Op ed from the Mayor: Local control best approach for secure water future

Op ed from the Mayor: Local control best approach for secure water future.
As we watch the melting Sierra snowpack rush by and put the drought behind us, serious discussions are underway at the state capitol about how to best plan for the next time of water scarcity.
Water suppliers, including Roseville, were forced to cut back even though they had invested in developing local water supplies specifically to help weather times of drought and protect their ratepayers from the need for severe cutbacks.
Forced conservation in our communities did not improve supplies for anyone else in the state.
PPIC’s findings come at a critical time.
State water regulators have proposed continuing the type of centralized control they wielded during the drought on a permanent basis.
This is vitally important because local water use decisions are often correlated to economic development and land use choices.
This approach – embodied in AB 1654 by Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio – will empower communities to balance their current and future water supplies with future water use demands, during times of both drought and soaking rain.
Roseville supports this approach because it protects our ability to manage our water supplies based on community needs, respects the investments our citizens have made in developing sufficient water supplies and becoming more efficient (such as our use of recycled water) and provides for annual reporting to the State to enhance its ability to focus on communities in California that have water supply challenges that legitimately can use the State’s help.
It’s time for the state of California to adopt a policy framework that empowers Roseville and our fellow cities across the state to continue to be leaders in efficient water use and not discourage local investments that make our water supply even more reliable in the future.

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