Title
2025 Urban Water Management Plan Update [Published 06/01/2026, 06/08/2026]
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FileID
File ID: 2026-00939
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Location
Location: Citywide
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Recommendation
Recommendation: Conduct a public hearing and upon conclusion, adopt a Resolution:1) approving the City's 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) update; and 2) approving the City’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP) update.
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Contact
Contact: Brett Ewart, Supervising Engineer, (916) 808-1725, bewart@cityofsacamento.org; Sherill Huun, Engineering & Water Resources Division Manager, (916) 808-1455, shuun@cityofsacramento.org; Dalia Fadl, Director, (916) 808-3765, dfadl@cityofsacramento.org; Department of Utilities
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Presenter
Presenter: Brett Ewart, Supervising Engineer, (916) 808-1725, bewart@cityofsacamento.org, Department of Utilities
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Attachments
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Resolution
3-2025 Draft Urban Water Management Plan
4-Water Shortage Contingency Plan
5-Presentation [Updated 06/15/2026 at 4:40 PM]
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Description/Analysis
IssueDetail
Issue Detail: Staff recommends Council adopt the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan update (UWMP) and the City’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan update (WSCP). The UWMP evaluation demonstrates existing and projected water supplies, demands, and water management strategies, and demonstrates water supply reliability under normal, single dry-, and multiple dry-year conditions for the next 20 years.
The City is required to comply with the requirements of the Urban Water Management Planning Act, which was adopted in 1983 and is codified in the California Water Code. Water Code §10620 requires every urban water supplier to prepare and adopt a UWMP, and once adopted, a UWMP must be updated in years ending in five or zero. Additionally, the California Water Code §10632 requires every urban water supplier to prepare and adopt a WSCP as part of its urban water management plan. The State of California deadline for receipt of an adopted 2025 UWMP update is July 1, 2026.
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PolicyConsiderations
Policy Considerations: The 2040 General Plan policy PFS-4.5 Comprehensive Water Supply Planning requires the City prepare and implement an Urban Water Management Plan, updating it on a 5-year cycle, to ensure a reliable, long-term water supply and service under projected future conditions. The last update was prepared in 2020 and adopted in June 2021.
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EconomicImpacts
Economic Impacts: None.
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EnvironmentalConsiderations
Environmental Considerations: The preparation and adoption of an Urban Water Management Plan pursuant to the provisions of Section 10652 of the Water Code is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15282(v).
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Sustainability
Sustainability: There is no direct impact on sustainability by adopting the UWMP. The document is an important tool to track the manner in which the City uses and manages its water supply, and it identifies activities the City is undertaking to improve the efficient use of water resources.
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Commission/Committee Action
Commission/Committee Action: Not applicable.
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RationaleforRecommendation
Rationale for Recommendation: The Urban Water Management Planning Act requires urban water suppliers to update their UWMPs every 5 years, and that the updated plan be adopted by the organization’s governing body. The State also requires the City to update its WSCP pursuant to new state requirements and seek adoption by its governing body. The last update was the 2020 UWMP adopted in June 2021. This action will allow the City to comply with California Water Code Section 10620 et seq., and 10632 et seq.
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FinancialConsiderations
Financial Considerations: The adoption of the UWMP has no direct fiscal impact, however, completion of the update will allow the City to qualify for future applications for State-administered grant programs.
There are no General Funds allocated or planned for this project.
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LocalBusinessEnterprise
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
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Background
Background: As defined in the California Water Code, an “urban water supplier” is a supplier, either publicly or privately owned, that provides water to more than 3,000 customers or supplies more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually on a wholesale or retail basis or both. The City of Sacramento currently has over 146,000 active water service connections and provided 99,332 acre-feet of potable water to customers in 2025, so must therefore conform to the Urban Water Management Planning Act (the “Act”).
The City’s first urban water management plan (UWMP) was prepared in 1991 and has been regularly updated on a five-year interval, per the requirements of the Act. The last UWMP was adopted in June 2021. The current proposed 2025 UWMP complies with requirements of the Act and updated guidance from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).
The following conclusions are contained within the Draft 2025 UWMP and the Water Shortage Contingency Plan:
• CONSERVATION TARGET COMPLIANCE: The City must demonstrate that it has achieved a demand of 225 gallons per capita per day (gpcd) by 2020. This is 20 percent less than the City’s baseline (or historical average) demand of 282 gpcd. In 2025 the City’s gpcd was 159, which is 29% under the target.
• WATER SERVICE RELIABILITY AND DROUGHT RISK ASSESSMENT: The City is well-positioned to withstand the effects of a single dry year and a five-year drought at any period between 2026 and 2050. The City’s drought risk was specifically assessed between 2026 and 2030, assuming that the next five years are dry years. In short, the findings of these risk and reliability assessments are that the City has reliable water supplies available to support both future retail and wholesale demands for its service area through 2050.
• WATER SHORTAGE CONTINGENCY PLAN (WSCP): The City updated its WSCP to include its process for assessing potential gaps between planned water supply and demands for current year and the next potentially dry year. It aligned its water service area’s water shortage levels with the State for consistent messaging and reporting and planned for locally appropriate water shortage responses. The WSCP may be used for foreseeable and unforeseeable events.
• OVERALL WATER SUPPLY PROJECTIONS: The 2025 UWMP indicates that the City has sufficient water entitlements to accommodate projected demands over the next 25 years. To reliably meet current and future water demands, the City is working on several projects including rehabilitation of the E.A. Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant and the retrofit of the existing intake at the Sacramento Water Treatment Plant, the expansion of the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant, the RiverArc project, which is proposed to be a new regional water treatment plant that could benefit the greater Sacramento area, and expanding its groundwater program as recommended in the 2017 Groundwater Master Plan.
The Department of Utilities Staff continues to track trends in growth and water consumption to develop future recommendations for City Council consideration.
In accordance with California Water Code §10620(d)(3), the City notified all appropriate agencies in the area, including water suppliers that share a common source, water management agencies, and relevant public agencies that the 2025 UWMP was being prepared. Prior to 60 days before the date of the public hearing, the City provided another Notice of UWMP Preparation and Review to the same agencies, per California Water Code §10621(b). A notice of public hearing was published in the local newspaper and posted at City facilities in accordance with California Government Code §6066. The Draft 2025 UWMP was made available to the public and interested parties for review and comment. Hard copies of the draft UWMP were made available at the main branch of the Sacramento City Library. Digital copies of the draft UWMP were available on the City’s website at https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/utilities/reports#anchor-urban-water-management-plan and were directly provided to the following:
• California American Water
• County of Sacramento
• Florin County Water District
• Golden State Water Company
• Natomas Central Mutual Water District
• Regional Water Authority
• Rio Linda Elverta Community Water District
• Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority
• Sacramento County Water Agency
• Sacramento County LAFCo
• Sacramento Groundwater Authority
• Sacramento Suburban Water District
• Sacramento Area Sewer District
• Tokay Park Water District
• The Water Forum
• City of West Sacramento
The adopted UWMP and WSCP is due to State DWR by July 1 for review. Within 30 days after adoption, the UWMP and the WSCP must also be filed with the California State Library and the County of Sacramento.
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