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Planning Documents

Metropolitan's planning and reporting documents focus on regional water supply reliability:

• Integrated Water Resources Plan represents Metropolitan's long-term plan to assure adequate water supplies for Southern California.

• Urban Water Management Plan describes and evaluates sources of supply, efficient uses, water recycling and conservation activities.

• Water Surplus and Drought Management Plan outlines policies that guide water surplus and shortage management and establishes a basis for dealing with shortages in an equitable and efficient manner.

• Long Term Conservation Plan guides Metropolitan's investments and communication strategy for reducing regional water demands.

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. Preparation of the 2020 IRP is underway. Click here to learn more.

2015 Update to Metropolitan’s Integrated Water Resources Plan

View Historical Strategic Planning Documents.

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 (UWMP) 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 (IRP), 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 2020 Urban Water Management Plan was developed as part of the 2020 IRP planning process. Learn more about the IRP.

2020 Urban Water Management Plan

Appendix 11 to the 2015 UWMP

Water Shortage Contingency Plan

2020 Reference Materials

Metropolitan's 2015 Urban Water Management Plan
2015 Reference Materials

Metropolitan held a public hearing on Monday, April 12, 2021 to receive comments on its draft 2020 UWMP, draft Appendix 11 as an addendum to its 2015 UWMP, and its draft Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP). Metropolitan's Board of Directors adopted the documents at the Board Meeting on May 11, 2021. The documents were submitted to the California Department of Water Resources on June 3, 2021.

Metropolitan's 2020 UWMP provides a representation of Metropolitan’s planning elements and reliability assessments reported under the conditions required by the UWMP Act, and is prepared as part of the 2020 Integrated Water Resources Plan process. The 2020 UWMP complies with California state law requiring urban water suppliers to prepare and update urban water management plans every five years. The Appendix 11 to both the 2020 UWMP and the 2015 UWMP includes all of the elements described in Delta Plan Policy WR P1, Reduce Reliance on the Delta Through Improved Regional Water Self-Reliance (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 23, § 5003) which need to be included in a water supplier’s UWMP to support a certification of consistency for a future covered action. The WSCP includes Metropolitan’s efficient management and planned actions to respond to actual water shortage conditions. Metropolitan’s WSCP satisfies the requirements of the California Water Code.

For more information on the 2020 UWMP, Appendix 11, and WSCP, please contact Edgar Fandialan of Metropolitan’s Water Resource Management Group.

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.