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BACKGROUND Municipal Code Chapter 2.44 Emergency Organization and California Government Code §§8630 et. seq. allows the City Council to proclaim a local emergency and provides that City staff shall return to the City Council approximately every sixty (60) days to update the City Council on the local emergency. On October 5, 2021, City Council adopted urgency Ordinance No. 2225 declaring a Local Drought Emergency and adopted Resolution No. 21-1250 declaring a Stage 2 water shortage and mandating that Pleasanton water customers reduce their potable water usage by 15 percent. Due to the critically reduced water supplies and continued extreme dry weather, the protection of public health, safety, and welfare supported the declaration of a Local Drought Emergency providing the needed flexibility to respond quickly to changing situations involving fire safety, water availability for fire service, flexibility to obtain needed supplies or resources, and the authorization to collaborate with other local agencies on critical drought issues. DISCUSSION The City's Water Supply Contingency Plan (WSCP) describes the City's strategic plan in response to water shortages and establishes a fundamental link to Zone 7's water supply outlook as critical criteria for assessing a water shortage. The WSCP defines a Stage 2 water shortage as follows: There is sufficient uncertainty concerning water supply, either based upon Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment (AWSDA) finding or unforeseeable event, to lead to the conclusion that supply may not adequately meet normal demand in the current or upcoming years. Late rain in March and April helped, but California remains in its third driest year. To mitigate the 5 percent allocation from the SWP, Zone 7 is pursuing water transfer opportunities through the Yuba Accord, Dry Year Transfer Program, other SWP contractors, and non-SWP contractors. In addition to pursuing water transfers, Zone 7 will continue to rely on the Tri-Valley's groundwater basin, which holds the imported water Zone 7 stores during wet years to sustain the Tri-Valley during times of drought. However, that supply can only stretch so far, and conservation is a key piece to prolonging the supply held in the groundwater basin. Conservation remains an important part of the Tri-Valley's water portfolio and customers are being asked to continue their conservation efforts as temperatures rise and irrigation use increases. Since City Council adopted the mandatory 15 percent water conservation measure in October 2021, water customers' conservation efforts have fluctuated as shown in Figure 1. The City's potable water use in May 2022 shows a 16 percent decrease in water use as compared to May 2020. This is a significant decrease and is the first time City water users met the required conservation target of 15 percent reduction. Drought rates took effect on May 1, which may be providing more incentive to water customers to reduce water consumption. Page 2 of 3