Best Best & Krieger News Feed

Ensuring the Financial Health of Your Utility After California's Historic Drought

12 Jan 2017 00:00:00 -0800

As agencies recover from a period of reduced water sales revenues as a result of California's historic drought, several questions remain as to what to expect going forward.

RFC is offering this workshop to help California utilities learn how to develop sustainable financial plans and prepare for California's next drought. Come learn from industry experts:

How to generate sufficient revenue with uncertain sales projections.
A step-by-step approach to developing defensible, cost of service-based rates.
How to be financially prepared for California's next drought.

This session will feature BB&K Partner Kelly Salt, one of California's most well-known authorities on ratemaking law. Kelly works with public agencies on bond and municipal finance matters, rate setting and compliance with Propositions 218 and 26, and drought management and water conservation programs.

REGISTRATION
$40 early-bird, $50 general admission (early-bird ends October 28).

Click Here to Register
Date: Thursday, Jan. 12
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Location: East Bay Municipal Utility District, 375 11th Street, Oakland, CA 94607
Room: Large Training Room
This session is limited to the first 35 registrants. Ticket sales will end Thursday, Jan. 5.

Draft Plan Released to Establish Permanent Water Conservation Requirements Throughout California

02 Dec 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Urban water agencies would face an increasingly expansive set of water conservation laws and regulations under a new draft plan released Wednesday. The plan, which also addresses water use in agriculture and other sectors, was developed jointly by five state agencies, including the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources. Public comments on the plan are due Dec. 19.

The draft plan was developed in response to Executive Order B-37-16, which Gov. Jerry Brown issued May 9 to address drought preparedness and long-term water conservation. While a number of the draft plan’s provisions would be implemented under already existing authorities, other elements would require either rulemaking by state agencies or new legislation.

During the past two years, water supply agencies have had to deal with challenging emergency water conservation regulations adopted by the State Water Board in the face of a lingering and serious statewide drought. The draft plan moves away from the piecemeal emergency regulatory approach by calling for a new permanent water conservation regime for the State.

A key element involves a requirement that the state’s 410 urban water suppliers meet new water use targets, which would be set locally based on state standards applied to unique local conditions. The proposed new approach is designed to take into account the unique climatic, demographic, geographic and land-use characteristics of each urban water agency’s service area. The Executive Order requires that the new water use targets build on existing statutory requirements that the State achieve a 20 percent reduction in urban water usage by 2020. Under the proposed regime, DWR and the State Water Board would develop new standards by 2020 to address four sectors:

Indoor residential per capita water use
Outdoor irrigation
Water lost through leaks
Commercial, industrial and institutional water use

Local urban water suppliers would calculate their own unique water use targets based on the state standards, and would be required to achieve compliance by 2025. The targets would change each year because, although the standards would be permanent, the targets would be based on variable metrics including population, landscape area and evapotranspiration. The draft plan calls for suppliers to submit annual progress reports to the State, as well as monthly and annual water use data. Suppliers failing to meet their targets could face enforcement actions by the State Water Board.

The draft plan implementing the Executive Order contains a number of other elements, including:

Potential extension of the Board’s current emergency water conservation regulations, which are in effect through February 2017, for an additional 270 days, depending on ongoing drought conditions.
Establishment of permanent monthly urban water use reporting requirements and permanent prohibitions on wasteful water practices, such as hosing down sidewalks, through State Water Board rulemaking.
New measures achieved through rulemaking by several agencies to reduce water lost through leaks.
New legislation requiring urban water suppliers to submit “Water Shortage Contingency Plans” to the State, to conduct a “Five-Year Drought Risk Assessment” every five years, and to submit a water budget forecast annually to the State.
New actions to improve drought preparation among small water suppliers and rural communities.
New legislation placing water use efficiency and drought planning requirements, such as water budgets and water management plans, on suppliers of water to agricultural users.

Comments on the draft plan should be submitted to wue@water.ca.gov no later than Dec. 19, 2016. More information can be found here.

Best Best & Krieger’s attorneys can assist public agency clients in responding to the draft plan. If you have any questions about this draft plan or how it may impact your agency, please contact the attorney authors of this Legal Alert listed to the right in the firm’s Special Districts practice group, or your BB&K attorney.

Please feel free to share this Legal Alert or subscribe by clicking here. Follow us on Twitter @BBKlaw.

Disclaimer: BB&K Legal Alerts are not intended as legal advice. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an attorney before acting or relying upon any information in this communiqué.

Hillsborough Residents File Suit Over Water Rates

02 Dec 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Kelly Salt, who represents the City of Hillsborough, Calif., discussed with reporters a lawsuit filed over water rates. A group of wealthy residents claim the rates and laws intended to encourage water conservation are illegal. In interviews, Kelly said the rates comply with state law.

“The rates are structured to recover the costs of providing more water to those who demand more water,” she told the East Bay Times. “Do they incidentally encourage people to conserve? Yes. They send a price signal.”

Read the entire story, originally posted Nov. 30, 2016 in the East Bay Times, by clicking here.

Bringing Water Together

29 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Join Best Best & Krieger LLP at the ACWA 2016 Fall Conference & Exhibition in Anaheim, Calif.

BB&K Speakers:

Kelly Salt
“Groundwater Sustainability Agency Funding Options”
A discussion of possible groundwater sustainability agency funding options, including Proposition 26, Proposition 218 and other tools being used by those currently forming GSAs. Hear about what the drafters intended possible funding options to be when writing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Get the latest update on how courts interpret the use of Proposition 218 and Proposition 26 for imposing fees and charges. Finally, learn about what current GSAs are contemplating to raise money to form GSAs and prepare groundwater sustainability plans.
Wednesday, Nov. 30
10 - 11:30 a.m.

John Freshman
“ACWA’s Hans Doe Past Presidents’ Breakfast in Partnership with ACWA/JPIA”
After the Elections: What Now? As the dust settles on the 2016 elections, come hear what political insiders have to say about the results. What does it all mean, who are the new players on the scene, and how can you navigate the results?
Friday, Dec. 2
8:30 - 10 a.m.

When
Tuesday, Nov. 29 - Friday, Dec. 2

Where
Anaheim Marriott Hotel
700 West Convention Way
Anaheim, CA 92802

For more information or to register, click here.

Drought Policies, Price of Water Lands in Court

17 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

A group of Hillsborough residents is suing the town over water rate hikes during the drought. Best Best & Krieger LLP attorney Kimberley Hood, representing the town, told the San Mateo Daily Journal: “I think agencies are trying to do the best they can to recoup their costs of service while complying with Prop. 218 and also trying to deal with an unprecedented period of drought.”

“The goal is just to make sure that you’re covering your cost of service and it’s always been clear since Prop. 218 that you can’t be making a profit,” she said. “But the courts have allowed some flexibility in how they [cover costs].”

Click here to read the entire article, which originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal on Nov. 16, 2016.

All Hands on Deck! Collaborative Approaches to Water Sustainability and Resiliency

15 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger LLP Managing Partner Eric Garner will serve as a panelist at Coro's 2016 Innovate x Water Conference. The topic will be "All Hands on Deck! Collaborative Approaches to Water Sustainability and Resiliency."

When
Tuesday, Nov. 15
8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Where
LA CIeantech Incubator (LACI)
525 S. Hewitt Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

For more information and to register, click here.

Endangered Fish v. Humans: The Fight Over Competing Water Needs

09 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

By Gene Tanaka

The struggle to allocate scarce water resources between endangered and threatened fish and humans is not new. But droughts in the Southwest, which lower stream flows, and population increases, which raise demand, have diminished the available water. These factors have exacerbated existing threats to protected fish species, such as greater variability in stream flows, increased water temperatures, fertilizers and overfishing. The consequences are playing out before federal and state administrative agencies and courts and will be felt by the public, which depends on surface water supplies.

This article discusses the threat posed by reduced stream water levels, examines the response by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, California State Water Resources Control Board and other regulatory agencies to set numerical stream flow requirements, and analyzes the law regarding the regulators response.

To read the entire article, which was published in the September/October 2016 edition of International Municipal Lawyer Association’s Municipal Lawyer magazine, click here. Reprinted with permission.

Webinar: Sustainable Groundwater Management Act 2.0: 2 Years To 2020/2022

07 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0800

Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Alisha Winterswyk will serve as moderator and Partner Steve Anderson will speak at State Bar of California, Environmental Law Section webinar.

Prior to enactment of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in late 2014, groundwater use in California largely followed the infamous water law principles of “use it or lose it” and “race to the pumphouse.” In short, landowners and water purveyors who pumped hardest and drilled deepest generally held a decided advantage over other groundwater users. Drought over the last seven years has resulted in reduced availability of surface water and more reliance on water below ground. In turn, falling groundwater levels across the state exacerbated an ever-growing conflict over limited water resources. The time was thus ripe for California to enact specific laws to regulate groundwater use. Hence, the impetus for SGMA.

This program offers 1.5 hours participatory MCLE credit. You must register in advance in order to attend.

When
Monday, Nov. 17
10 - 11:30 a.m. (PDT) / 1 - 2:30 p.m. (EDT)

For more information or to register, click here.

BB&K’s Reimagining the Cadillac Desert

27 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0800

In a three-part series, Maven’s Notebook shared a recap of Best Best & Krieger LLP’s day-long “Reimagining the Cadillac Desert” event. Held on Sept. 15, the event included gathered leaders and experts in design, municipal planning, academia, agriculture, policy, finance and technology to share their visions for the West’s water future. Click here to learn more about the event, and to watch videos of the sessions.

From Maven’s Notebook:
REIMAGINING THE CADILLAC DESERT, Part 1: Are We in a Forever Drought?
REIMAGINING THE CADILLAC DESERT, Part 2: Where Will the Water Come From?
REIMAGINING THE CADILLAC DESERT, Part 3: How are Cities Looking at Water?

In Yorba Linda, the Race for Water District Board is Getting Ugly

26 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0800

With drought being the catalyst for a Yorba Linda Water District’s Board of Directors heated election and recall election, Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Kelly Salt discussed how conservation measures can cause anger and confusion — leading to such clashes.

"You know, people don't really understand how they get their water," Kelly told KPCC. "They turn on the tap and it magically appears."

Kelly said that lots of water districts in California are watching Yorba Linda closely – the results from the recall election could affect how other boards set their rates in the future.

"I think for a lot of agencies, it's been a very difficult time," said Salt. "They have so many of their costs, which are fixed. At the same time, they're encouraging their customers to conserve or use water efficiently."

Click here to listen to the whole story, originally published on Oct. 26, 2016, on KPCC.