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BACKGROUND California is facing a record dry year, and water supplies in the snowpack, reservoirs and river systems are at record lows. With the dry weather expected to continue, the Governor signed a Proclamation of a State of Emergency on January 17, 2014. The Proclamation orders: Local urban water suppliers and municipalities are called upon to implement their local 'water shortage contingency plans immediately in order to avoid or forestall outright restrictions that could become necessary later in the drought season. Local water agencies should also update their legally required urban and agricultural water management plans, which help plan for extended drought conditions. The Department of Water Resources will make the status of these updates publicly available. The City of Pleasanton has previously adopted the Tri Valley Water Retailers Water Shortage Contingency Plan (May 2009), as well as its own Urban Water Management Plan (June 2011). The City's Urban Water Management Plan includes Water Shortage Contingency Planning, which updated the City's older Water Conservation Plan in Chapter 9.30 of the Pleasanton Municipal Code enacted in 1991 in response to that drought period. DISCUSSION The Water Shortage Contingency Plan uses a self-described staged plan for water shortages of increasing severity. A Stage 1 plan, as proposed to be adopted by the City, is for the situations where "there are sufficient uncertainly concerning water supplies for the year or the next few years that it would be prudent for water customers to conserve local water supplies". A Stage 1 plan seeks voluntary reductions of up to twenty percent (20%).1 In conjunction with the proposed declaration of a water shortage and implementation of a Stage 1 Water Shortage Contingency Plan, City staff would increase its current community outreach to residents and businesses about water conservation through utility bill inserts, website information, potential informational booths at community events, and other modes of communication. The attached Water Conservation Action Plan is a resource that has been developed to educate water customers. At this time, the financial impacts of implementing the proposed Stage 1 Water Shortage Contingency Plan are expected to be de minimis. Water reduction has already been taking place in all City programs and operations (e.g. signs at the Aquatic Center asking patrons to take short showers, and reduced watering of landscaping), so water bills that the City receives from Zone 7 may be reduced. However, that could be 1 If drought conditions become more severe, City staff would return to the City Council for its consideration of implementing other stages of the Water Shortage Contingency Plan, or take other action for the community's health, safety and welfare. Page 2 of 3