REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: PAUL AMICO, PE, Director Department of Public Utilities BY: DEJAN PAVIC, PE, Water Resources Manager Department of Public Utilities - Utilities, Planning & Engineering DEBBIE KHOUNSAVATH, Project Manager Department of Public Utilities - Utilities, Planning & Engineering SUBJECT ..Title HEARING to discuss and consider the adoption of the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan (Citywide) 1. Adopt a finding of Statutory Exemption pursuant to Section 10652 of the California Water Code for the adoption of the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan 2. ***RESOLUTION - Adopting the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (Subject to Mayor's Veto) 3. ***RESOLUTION - Adopting the 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan and Authorizing the City Manager, or designee, to declare the appropriate Water Shortage Stage and implement any associated shortage response actions (Subject to Mayor's Veto) ..Body RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends City Council conduct a public hearing to discuss and consider the adoption of 2025 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) and 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP); Adopt a finding of Statutory Exemption pursuant to Section 10652 of the California Water Code for the adoption of the 2025 UWMP and 2025 WSCP; approve a Resolution adopting the 2025 UWMP; and approve a Resolution adopting the 2025 WSCP and authorizing the City Manager, or designee, to declare the appropriate Water Shortage Stage and implement any associated shortage response actions. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) requires all urban suppliers to prepare and adopt an UWMP every five years and due on June 30th. These plans support the suppliers' long-term resource planning. to ensure that adequate water supplies are available to meet existing and future water needs. To comply with the regulatory requirements, the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has prepared a 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan. BACKGROUND The UWMP outlines a supplier's long-term water resource planning, to ensure adequate availability and reliability of water supplies to meet both existing and future demands. As a water purveyor with more than 3,000 connections and/or producing more than 3,000 acre-feet annually, the City of Fresno (City) is required by the Urban Water Management Planning Act (UWMP Act) to prepare and adopt an UWMP every five years. The WSCP, a component of the UWMP, details intended City actions to respond to water shortages. A 2019 amendment to the UWMP Act requires the WSCP be adopted as a separate plan from the UWMP. Per Title 23 California Code of Regulations �5003(c)(1)(C), water suppliers are to demonstrate reduced reliance on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The DWR UWMP Guidebook 2020 instructs urban water suppliers to amend the 2015 UWMP with reporting on reduced Delta reliance, if not already included. On July 15, 2021, City Council adopted the 2020 UWMP, 2020 WSCP, and Addendum to the 2015 UWMP to comply with requirements of the Water Conservation Act of 2009 (Senate Bill x7-7) and the UWMP Act. In June 2020, the City entered into an agreement with Water Systems Consulting, Inc., to develop the City's 2020 UWMP and 2020 WSCP. The City has amended the agreement to include updates to the 2025 UWMP and 2025 WSCP. UWMPs are required to be updated and submitted to DWR every five years under the UWMP Act. Plan submittal is to demonstrate a 20-year reliable supply. The UWMP Act has undergone significant expansion since it was originally passed, particularly since the City's previous UWMP was prepared in 2020. Prolonged droughts, groundwater overdraft, regulatory revisions, and changing climatic conditions affect the reliability of each water supplier. Accordingly, the UWMP Act has grown to address changing conditions. A new requirement includes urban water suppliers to prepare five-year consecutive drought supply, demand and risk assessments to evaluate the functionality of the WSCP in the event of a continuous five-year drought. The City currently manages its surface water and groundwater supplies by maximizing surface water for potable use and intentional recharge during wet and normal years, while relying on groundwater during dry years. During a normal hydrologic year, the City is projected to have greater than 60,000 acre-feet available for groundwater recharge and other uses after meeting potable demands. Over the last 20 years, typical groundwater recharge averages 46,000 acre-feet annually and was as high as 82,900 acre-feet in 2019. During a single dry year, the City's surface water supplies are projected to be reduced, but all potable demands are met with reduce groundwater recharge. During a five-year consecutive drought, the City is projected to meet all demands with existing supplies with further reduced groundwater recharge to accommodate low surface water allocations. A provision of the Water Code added in 2019 directs urban water suppliers to prepare a Drought Risk Assessment (DRA), assuming a drought period lasting five consecutive years, starting from the year following the year when the assessment is conducted. The DRA analysis allows the City to examine the management of its supplies during stressed hydrologic conditions and an opportunity to evaluate whether the City may need to enact its WSCP during the next actual drought period lasting at least five years. Based on the DRA, the City does not expect to enact its WSCP for a five-consecutive year drought based on the unrestricted potable demand projections and the reliability of the current supply portfolio. The City contracts with the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Central Valley Project (CVP) Friant Division for an annual supply of 60,000 acre-feet of Class 1 surface water. Although this surface water does not originate in the Delta, the CVP was developed through an agreement with the Exchange Contractors that have historic pre-1914 San Joaquin River water rights. As part of the agreement, the Exchange Contractors receive water from the Delta in exchange for the CVP Friant Division water. During times of severe drought when the Exchange Contractors don't receive their full allocations from the Delta, the Exchange Contractors can call on their historic pre-1914 San Joaquin River water rights to fulfill their allocations. Due to the indirect connection of the City's Class 1 surface water allocation from the CVP Friant Division to the Exchange Contractors allocation from the Delta, the City is required to demonstrate consistency with the Delta Plan policy. The Draft 2025 UWMP and Draft 2025 WSCP were made available to the public and stakeholders for review and comment from June 10, 2026, through June 17, 2026. Copies of the Draft 2025 UWMP and Draft 2025 WSCP were placed at the following Fresno County Libraries: Woodward Park Regional Library, Betty Rodriguez Regional Library, and Sunnyside Regional Library. The Draft 2025 UWMP and Draft 2025 WSCP remain accessible on the City of Fresno website at https://www.fresno.gov/publicutilities/plans-and-reports/#water-resource-management-plans. Required legal postings were made on June 10, and June 17, 2026. Completion of the 2025 UWMP fulfills compliance with the UWMP Act and enables the City to be eligible for State grants or loans. The Final adopted 2025 UWMP and 2025 WSCP, will be submitted to DWR and the California State Library. Copies will be provided to Fresno County and will be made available for public access at City offices and on the City's website. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS Per Section 10652 of the California Water Code, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not apply to the preparation and adoption of UWMPs and WSCPs or the implementation of potential actions included in the WSCP. This action is for the adoption of the 2025 UWMP and 2025 WSCP, as required by the Urban Water Management Planning Act. Thus, pursuant to Water Code section 10652, this action is statutorily exempt from the requirements of CEQA. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not implemented, as this item does not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract. FISCAL IMPACT There is no impact to the General Fund. Funding for this Project is included in the Fiscal Year 2026 Water Enterprise Fund. Attachments: Public Hearing Notices Notice of Exemption Resolution Adopting the City's 2025 Urban Water Management Plan Resolution Adopting the City's 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan 2025 Urban Water Management Plan 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan Consultant Presentation "2025 UWMP Presentation for Council"