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BACKGROUND <br /> Municipal Code Chapter 2.44 Emergency Organization and California Government <br /> Code §§8630 et. seq. allows the City Council to proclaim a local emergency and <br /> provides that City staff shall return to the City Council approximately every 60 days to <br /> update the City Council on the local emergency. <br /> On October 5, 2021, City Council adopted urgency Ordinance No. 2225 declaring <br /> a Local Drought Emergency and adopted Resolution No. 21-1250 declaring a Stage 2 <br /> water shortage and mandating that Pleasanton water customers reduce their potable <br /> water usage by 15 percent. Due to the critically reduced water supplies and continued <br /> extreme dry weather through 2022, the protection of public health, safety, and welfare <br /> supported the declaration of a Local Drought Emergency which provides the needed <br /> flexibility to respond quickly to changing situations involving fire safety, water availability <br /> for fire service, the flexibility to obtain needed supplies or resources, and the <br /> authorization to collaborate with other local agencies on critical drought issues. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> The City's Water Supply Contingency Plan (WSCP) describes the City's strategic plan <br /> in response to water shortages and establishes a fundamental link to Zone 7's water <br /> supply outlook as critical criteria for assessing a water shortage. The WSCP defines a <br /> Stage 2 water shortage as follows: <br /> There is sufficient uncertainty concerning water supply, either based upon Annual Water <br /> Supply and Demand Assessment (AWSDA) finding or unforeseeable event, to lead to <br /> the conclusion that supply may not adequately meet normal demand in the current or <br /> upcoming years. <br /> The heavy rain and in recent weeks have helped significantly; however,) the State has <br /> not yet lifted drought restrictions. Additionally, Zone 7 has not yet received its SWP <br /> allocation for 2023 yet; as such, Zone 7 is continuing to keep water use restrictions in <br /> place until SWB allocations are made. Zone 7 will continue to rely on the Tri-Valley's <br /> groundwater basin, which holds the imported water Zone 7 stores during wet years to <br /> sustain the Tri-Valley during times of drought. There is sufficient uncertainty with water <br /> availability to support the continuation of the declaration of a Local Drought Emergency <br /> for the next 60 days. <br /> Conservation remains an important part of the Tri-Valley's water portfolio and customers <br /> are being asked to continue their conservation efforts as temperatures rise and irrigation <br /> use increases. Since City Council adopted the mandatory 15 percent water <br /> conservation measure in October 2021, water customers' conservation efforts have <br /> fluctuated as shown in Figure 1. In the past nine months starting in May 2022, City <br /> water users have been meeting or exceeding the 15 percent reduction target. For the <br /> nine-month period water consumption has been reduced by an average of 16.4 percent. <br /> These are significant reductions demonstrating that city water users are making a <br /> significant difference. Additionally, drought rates took effect on May 1, which may be <br /> providing more incentive to water users to reduce water consumption. <br /> Page 2 of 3 <br />