Long-Term Plans Promote Regional Resilience
The Water Authority creates and updates a variety of long-term plans by coordinating with other agencies to estimate future water demands and identify necessary facilities and supplies to meet these demands. Planning efforts are designed to address regulatory requirements, environmental goals, member agency needs and other factors.
Strategic Plans
Aqueduct Operating Plan
The Water Authority operates and maintains a regional water delivery system capable of delivering 900 million gallons of water per day. The annual Aqueduct Operating plan reflects on-going efforts to optimize the delivery, treatment, and storage of water in the San Diego region through coordination between the Water Authority, member agencies, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Aqueduct Operating Plan
Business Plan
The Business Plan is used by the Water Authority to implement the Board of Director’s strategic direction. It provides a common set of objectives for the organization, focuses Water Authority staff on achievable actions, and guides investments in resources.
2021-2025 Business Plan
Climate Action Plan
The Climate Action Plan is an interdisciplinary effort to promote and coordinate implementation of climate change strategies and related activities within the Water Authority. The plan focuses on greenhouse-gas emission reduction and adaptation measures to ensure the agency’s water supplies, infrastructure, and services align with the state of California’s climate change polices and goals.
Climate Action Plan
Emergency Preparedness Plan
The Water Authority maintains a comprehensive emergency preparedness plan compliant with the National Incident Management System. The standard methods assist responding agencies in communicating with a common structure and language. This plan is not public to minimize security risks.
Emergency Preparedness Tips
Integrated Regional Water Management Plan
Another important element of water resources planning is coordinating with numerous agencies involved in water management to ensure a comprehensive, regional, and integrated approach to water management within San Diego through the Integrated Regional Water Management Program.
Integrated Regional Water Management Plan Website
Long-Range Financing Plan
Every five years, the Long-Range Financing Plan is updated to support the long-term fiscal sustainability of the Water Authority. It identifies the financial policies that guide the Water Authority’s management of financial risk, and outlines how the agency plans to finance the CIP.
Long-Range Financing Plan
Model Drought Ordinance
Another important tool to help the region manage water shortages is the Water Authority’s Model Drought Ordinance. It focuses on core water use restrictions and is intended to assist the member agencies when updating local drought response ordinances and provide regional consistency in drought response levels and messaging to the public and media. It identifies drought response actions with water-use restrictions that are designed to align demand with supply during water shortages.
Model Drought Response Ordinance
Regional Water Facilities Master Plan
The Water Authority periodically prepares a Regional Water Facilities Master Plan that identifies the facilities needed to best meet current and future water demands.
Final 2013 Regional Water Facilities Optimization and Master Plan Update Chapters
Final 2013 Regional Water Facilities Optimization and Master Plan Update Appendices
Urban Water Management Plan
Every five years, the Water Authority prepares an Urban Water Management Plan that identifies projected water resource mixes for future decades. The process involves updating regional water demand forecasts and conservation projections, documenting supplies, and coordinating with member agencies on local supply projections.
2020 Urban Water Management Plan
2015 Urban Water Management Plan
Water Demand Forecast Update
The Water Demand Forecast Update is a comprehensive report that includes a summary of the assumptions, and updated water demand forecasting equations to generate water demand projections for the Water Authority service area. The baseline demand forecast presented in the report, along with output from the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) water conservation tracking tool, are used to develop the long-range demand forecast included in the Water Authority’s 2020 Urban Water Management Plan.
2020 Water Demand Forecast Update
2020 Water Demand Forecast Update Appendix
Water Shortage Contingency Plan
To ensure that the Water Authority and its member agencies proactively plan for potential water supply shortages, the Water Authority’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan includes a supply allocation methodology, regional shortage response levels and actions, a communications plan, and procedures to perform an annual water supply reliability analysis.
Water Shortage Contingency Plan