California

California Now Has Mandatory Water Conservation in Urban Areas: How Will the New Rules Affect Your Supplier? | KQED

Published

3 months ago

July 6, 2024

California Now Has Mandatory Water Conservation in Urban Areas: How Will the New Rules Affect Your Supplier? | KQED

The water board’s initial proposal — unveiled last year and estimated to cost $13.5 billion at the time — faced an onslaught of criticism from water suppliers and state analysts who called the rules too costly and difficult to achieve. In March, the state water agency revised its proposal to delay enforcement of the conservation targets and extend the timeline for tightening the water budgets based on outdoor residential use.

Individual residents won’t be regulated — only suppliers, who must meet their conservation targets or face fines or other penalties. The costs of complying through 2050 are now estimated at $4.7 billion — which is largely expected to be passed onto ratepayers — but water agencies and their customers will also save about $6.2 billion, in large part from buying less water, according to the agency’s analysis (PDF).

Water board staff estimate that through 2040, the measures will save 1.7 million acre-feet — enough to supply almost half the state’s population for a year. That’s about 73% less than the earlier proposal, which would have saved 6.3 million acre-feet through 2040, staff told CalMatters. Through 2050, the savings could reach about 3.9 million acre-feet — more than a year’s supply for the state’s entire population.

Local water providers told the board that the targets would still be difficult to meet and warned that the costs could hit lower- and fixed-income members of their communities especially hard. They urged the board to provide more technical assistance and funding. Still, many applauded the changes, which they said will soften impacts to customers and communities.

“Water suppliers will need to develop and implement new programs that require long-term customer behavior change and significant investments,” Chelsea Haines of the Association of California Water Agencies, which represents more than 450 public agencies, told CalMatters. “It’s an unprecedented approach that will require a level of commitment that we’ve never seen before.”

However, environmental groups and lawmakers say the weakened rules reduce and delay the water conservation that the drought-plagued state needs.

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” said Heather Cooley, director of research at the Pacific Institute, a global water think-tank. “While surface reservoirs are full now, I think there’s a tendency to forget about water scarcity and drought.”

The authors of the bills that required mandatory conservation rules — former state Sen. Bob Hertzberg and Assemblymember Laura Friedman from Burbank — said in a March opinion piece that the water board’s changes “trample on the hard-won work that’s been done so far by allowing water utilities until 2035 or later to implement meaningful reductions.”

“The State Water Resources Control Board has decided to kick the can of California’s water future down the road at a time when we can least afford such inaction,” Friedman told CalMatters after the vote, adding that California must invest more in water efficiency or be forced to spend billions on wastewater recycling and desalination.

Water board Chairman Joaquin Esquivel said, “This is not a perfect regulation. We can never have a perfect regulation. But it is a significant one and moves us into a direction here into the future that we can all be proud of — and that is nation-leading.”

“The arc of conservation in this state has been an incredible one. Californians know that conservation is critical,” he said during the meeting. “What this creates is really a floor. And importantly, it’s not a policy in isolation.”

Although the rules were changed multiple times before they came up for a vote on Wednesday, the fundamental concept remains the same. Each local agency’s water budget is calculated from a combination of standards for indoor and outdoor water use at residences, certain commercial landscapes and losses like leaks. Other factors, such as livestock and recycled water, are also taken into account.

Suppliers must meet targets through a combination of rebates encouraging thriftier landscapes and appliances and rate changes penalizing thirstier water users.

A previous, more stringent version of the rule carried the hefty price tag of around $13.5 billion from lost revenues and the costs of funding rebates, infrastructure improvements and other conservation measures. The benefits of having to buy less water or scrounge for expensive new supplies were tallied at around $15.6 billion.

Source link

California

Newsom gives $131M more to clear homeless encampments to CA cities, counties

Published

20 mins ago

October 5, 2024

Press Room

Newsom gives 1M more to clear homeless encampments to CA cities, counties

Gov.Gavin Newsom is hoping his latest round of homeless encampment resolution funding will not just help clear the state’s sidewalks — but also hold cities and counties more accountable for making it happen.

Newsom on Friday doled out $130.7 million to 12 cities and six counties, aiming to clear homeless encampments and provide shelter, care and support. Among the recipients are Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Pasadena and Los Angeles cities, but missing this round was Los Angeles County.

Newsom said L.A. County’s absence is not an oversight, nor is it a political maneuver.

“A disproportionate share has gone to L.A. City and L.A. County, as well as their C.O.C. (Continuum of Care), so they’ve been well resourced,” Newsom said. “It’s not intentional. I wouldn’t read between the lines.”

L.A. County received $51 million of homelessness funding from the state in May.

Newsom said so far, the state’s $1 billion encampment resolution program has doled out more than $737 million to clear encampments across California.

As part of this latest round of funding, Newsom said he’s also stepped up accountability measures and promised to claw back funding if the cities or counties fail to meet the requirements. The new standards, he said, are essential to reduce encampments and reclaim California’s public spaces.

Related story: Newsom makes good on threats against Norwalk for its ban on homeless shelters

“We need to re-democratize our streets and do it in a compassionate way, with our values intact, support the people who are out there and the underlying causes,” Newsom said. “But, we need to take back the streets.”

Newsom said the encampment resolution program is working. Since July, 991 encampments have been removed and more than 12,000 have been removed over the past three years.

Source link

California

Albertsons ordered to pay $4 million for overcharging California shoppers

Published

8 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Press Room

Albertsons ordered to pay million for overcharging California shoppers

Riverside District Attorney’s Office found faulty scales and scanners that regularly overcharged for food.

Subscribe to continue reading this article.

Already subscribed? To login in, click here.

Originally Published: October 4, 2024 at 2:33 p.m.

Source link

California

Citizens to expand and branch into California

Published

16 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Press Room

Citizens to expand and branch into California

Citizens Financial Group has entered the next phase of its West Coast expansion strategy, appointing a private banking team in Southern California, and announced plans to open new private bank offices in the region.

This move follows prior announcements regarding Citizens’ California development plan, which aims to serve the market in an integrated and comprehensive manner that fosters growth across Private Banking, Wealth Management, and Corporate & Investment Banking.

In an effort to expand its clientele, Citizens has launched two new Private Banking locations in Mill Valley and Downtown San Francisco, California.

These locations mark the bank’s first West Coast locations. The new offices of Citizens Private Bank offer high-net-worth individuals, families, businesses, entrepreneurs in the innovation economy, and charitable organisations comprehensive, personalised private banking and asset management services.

The sites stand out as centres of excellence within Citizens’ portfolio, delivering an assortment of tailored financial services suited to the unique needs of clients in the Northern California market. For their regular banking needs, all Citizens clients in the area are welcome to visit the new Private Banking locations.

In order to better serve the San Diego and Newport Beach regions, Citizens Private Bank has expanded its footprint by adding a highly skilled Private Banking staff to Southern California.

Victor Mena, a private bank market executive with deep ties in the area, substantial area expertise, and a track record of providing outstanding client service, leads the new team.

Mena will work with a group of seasoned bankers to increase Citizens Private Bank’s presence in California, reporting to Susan deTray, Head of the bank.

By the middle of 2025, Citizens Private Bank plans to open more Private Banking locations around California, notably in Newport Beach, San Diego, and Silicon Valley.

Susan deTray, head of Citizens Private Bank stated: “We’re pleased to continue executing against the Citizens Private Bank growth strategy with the opening of our first two Private Banking offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the addition of experienced bankers in Southern California. We look forward to deepening our presence and delivering a robust suite of comprehensive banking and wealth management services with an emphasis on personal relationships, extraordinary service, and tailored solutions and advice.”

“Citizens to expand and branch into California” was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.

The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.

Source link