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Metropolitan's Water Surplus and Drought Management Plan was developed in 1999 to outline policies that guide water surplus and shortage management and establish a basis for dealing with shortages in an equitable and efficient manner.

The Long Term Conservation Plan guides Metropolitan's investments and communication strategy for reducing regional water demands. Metropolitan's analysis of water supply reliability for the Emergency Regulation for Statewide Conservation is provided below.

Planning Documents

Metropolitan's planning and reporting documents focus on regional water supply reliability. Water Tomorrow, the Integrated Water Resources Plan, represents Metropolitan's long-term plan to assure adequate water supplies for Southern California. Metropolitan's Urban Water Management Plan describes and evaluates sources of supply, efficient uses, water recycling and conservation activities. Metropolitan's Water Surplus and Drought Management Plan was developed in 1999 to outline policies that guide water surplus and shortage management and establish a basis for dealing with shortages in an equitable and efficient manner. The Long Term Conservation Plan guides Metropolitan's investments and communication strategy for reducing regional water demands. Metropolitan's analysis of water supply reliability for the Emergency Regulation for Statewide Conservation is provided below.

Integrated Water Resources Plan

Metropolitan's Integrated Water Resources Plan is a blueprint for long-term water supply reliability in Southern California. It was first developed in 1996 to address the complexity of developing, maintaining, and delivering water to meet changing demands in the face of growing challenges. It established targets for a diversified portfolio of supply investments. Water Tomorrow works to balance the use of local resources and conservation with imported supplies to meet future needs.

2015 Update to Metropolitan’s Integrated Water Resources Plan

Read our 2015 IRP Overview and All of the Above strategy fact sheet.

View Historical Strategic Planning Documents.

October 2016

Board Report: Overview of Metropolitan's Efforts to Encourage Conservation

December 2016

Board Report: Overview of Metropolitan's Efforts to Encourage Local Resources Development

Reporting for Emergency Regulation for Statewide Conservation

Wholesale Water Supply

Metropolitan has evaluated its water conditions using the ‘stress test’ prescribed by the State Water Resources Control Board and determined it has sufficient water supplies to meet the demands of its member agencies over the next three years. The results of the test are due in large part to the extraordinary response of Southern California residents and businesses to reduce water during the region's ongoing drought and to make conservation a way of life long-term.

The state’s ‘stress test’ was an important exercise to complement our ongoing efforts to determine our water management actions for the remainder of this year. Given how Metropolitan anticipates modest increases in our water supply reserves thanks to continued conservation within our service area and expected supplies from Northern California, new short-term mandates at this time do not appear necessary. If drought conditions do persist for three additional years, mandatory restrictions of supplies to our 26 member public agencies would be a strong possibility, if not a probability. Metropolitan plans to carefully manage its reserves to avoid exhausting these vital buffer supplies.

Supplies available to Urban Water Suppliers
Analysis and supporting documentation
June 15, 2016 Press Release
Letter to SWRCB on Metropolitan's Wholesaler Supply Information

(Content updated August 23, 2016)

Urban Water Management Plan

The Urban Water Management Planning Act requires that: “every urban water supplier providing water for municipal purposes to more than 3,000 customers or supplying more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually prepare and adopt, in accordance with prescribed requirements, an urban water management plan.”

Metropolitan’s Urban Water Management Plan describes and evaluates sources of water supply, efficient uses of water, demand management measures, implementation strategies and schedules, and other relevant information and programs. The plan is updated every five years.

Information from Metropolitan’s UWMP is used by local water suppliers in the preparation of their own plans. The information included in Metropolitan’s UWMP represents the district’s most current planning projections of demand and supply capability developed through a collaborative process with the member agencies.

The UWMP does not explicitly discuss specific activities undertaken -- that is the role of Metropolitan’s Integrated Water Resources Plan, which represents Metropolitan’s comprehensive resource planning process and serves as Metropolitan’s blueprint for long-term water reliability, including key supply development and water use efficiency goals.

Metropolitan's 2015 Urban Water Management Plan

Reference Materials

Water Surplus & Drought Management Plan

Metropolitan’s Water Surplus and Drought Management Plan provides policy guidance for managing regional water supplies during surplus and shortage conditions. It identifies a sequence of management actions to minimize the probability of severe shortages and reduce the possibility of extreme shortages and water allocations. Each year Metropolitan evaluates available water supplies and existing water storage levels to determine the appropriate management actions identified in the WSDM Plan.

Long-Term Conservation Plan

Metropolitan’s Long-term Conservation Plan provides a framework for achieving the water use efficiency goals in the 2010 Integrated Resources Plan. Through market transformation, the plan seeks to reduce per capita water use 20% by 2020 using several key strategies:
1) providing incentives to guide consumer choice;
2) encouraging action through outreach and education;
3) developing regional technical capabilities;
4) building strategic alliances; and
5) advancing water efficiency standards.