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Infrastructure The Housing Element is required to demonstrate that the City maintains the capacity to accommodate the assigned housing obligations. Each individual project is required to gain the necessary approvals, and is subject to all public hearing and review requirements. These review requirements would ensure that each residential project conforms to the City's General Plan and Zoning Ordinance and would be adequately served by infrastructure and required services. The following discussion describes infrastructure and service concerns raised during the Housing Element Update review period: Water Public comments have indicated concern that the area's water supply is insufficient to accommodate continued population growth associated with additional housing construction. This concern has been heightened by the community's experience during the current drought, which is one of the most severe in the State's history. In response to cutbacks from Zone 7 (the water supplier for Pleasanton), the City has recently proclaimed a Local Drought Emergency and instituted water demand measures and a Stage 3 drought declaration intended to reduce water consumption by 25 %. Between March and June 2014, the City Council approved amendments to Chapter 9.30 (Water Conservation Plan) of the Pleasanton Municipal Code, outlining future water reduction measures, including restrictions on outdoor irrigation and decorative water features to be implemented during droughts. The physical manifestations of these cutbacks have been, in some cases, higher water bills and dry vegetation. While drought prompts fears of a dwindling water supply, concerns regarding accommodating new growth should primarily be viewed in the context of more effectively managing existing water supplies in the region and State. In particular, water supply and demand issues are best addressed on a regional or State -wide level because our main water supplies are in locations of the State that are at a distance from population centers, and most large water supplies are shared among many users. In Zone 7, approximately 80% of the water supply has been provided by the State Water Project in recent years, which primarily comprises water from the Sierra Nevada. In addition, agriculture consumes approximately 80% of the developed water supply in the State, meaning that issues of water supply and demand cannot be resolved only at the local level, or only in urban areas. Based on the 2010 Urban Water Management Plan, Zone 7 has sufficient water to accommodate planned growth through 2030, as accounted for in the General Plans of its member agencies. Zone 7 has concluded that a combination of water conservation and the development of new supplies and storage facilities will allow the agency to supply water to all planned growth within its service area, including housing - related growth in Pleasanton, even during multiple dry years (as is currently the case). The Urban Water Management Plan will be updated in 2015, and is expected to include a similar approach to accommodating growth as the 2010 plan, even in the midst of a severe drought. Case No. P14 -0440, City of Pleasanton Page 9 of 12 Planning Commission