State Extended Emergency Drought Regulations

With California still experiencing severe drought despite recent rains, on February 2, 2016 the State Water Resources Control Board adopted revised Emergency Regulations to ensure that urban water conservation continues in 2016. The February 2016 Emergency Regulation essentially extends the existing May 2015 Emergency Regulations through October 2016 and maintains many of the same requirements.

The May 2015 Emergency Regulations mandates a 25% reduction in statewide potable water use in urban areas and were set to expire in February 2016. To reach the Governor’s statewide 25% reduction mandate, urban water suppliers across the state have been assigned a conservation standard between 8% and 36% based on their previous water use. Hayward has been assigned an 8% reduction because water use in the Hayward community has historically been one of the lowest in the state.

As of February 2016, Hayward’s water conservation efforts have resulted in the City using 22% less water as compared to 2013, the baseline comparison year established by the State. While Hayward has far exceeded the conservation requirement, the revised Emergency Regulations also provide urban water suppliers some flexibility in meeting their conservation requirements through adjustments and credits that allow a supplier to modify its conservation standard up to eight percentage points. Given that Hayward is in the lowest assigned conservation tier, the City is not eligible for any of these adjustments or credits.

For more information, see the State Water Resources Control Board’s website on the Emergency Conservation Regulation.

For information about activities that are prohibited in Hayward, see the City's Drought Page.