DWR Letter
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) published on March 6, 2019 their decision “to defer the update for 2020” of the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO). You can read the DWR’s letter to the Landscape Stakeholders Advisory Group (LSAG) here.
Some APLD CA members served on DWR’s LSAG Work Groups and, under the leadership of Amelia Lima and Maureen Decombe, an APLD CA MWELO 2020 Working Group was formed. While this Working Group of volunteers was poised and ready to review and comment on proposed revisions to MWELO, in light of DWR’s decision to defer the 2020 update, this Working Group is currently inactive.
APLD CA Advocacy/Sustainability Co-Chairs Robin Salsburg and Cheryl Buckwalter wish to thank members for your support and participation.
DWR’s March 6th letter noted that, given the low levels of implementation reported by land use agencies, DWR decided to focus on identifying the barriers that limit many agencies from fully implementing MWELO, and then developing solutions to those limitations.
DWR plans to “invest our collective time, energy, and resources on a comprehensive revision of the MWELO geared toward fuller implementation and reporting, rather than patching the existing MWELO in a piecemeal way.”
DWR reported that they also plan to prepare a landscape ordinance “guidebook” and hold workshops to help local agencies implement the regulation and make compliance as easy as possible.
DWR Findings Report
DWR’s findings report to the California Water Commission were presented to the California Water Commission on March 20, 2019. The report states, in part:
“WHEREAS, although these comments (from the LSAG) provide invaluable insight and suggestions for many specific amendments, they do not provide sufficient insight on the reasons for low compliance or how to improve it. The comments will be relied upon for an update anticipated in 2023.”
Editorial Comments:
Our understanding was that the LSAG’s task was to focus on MWELO, and it was not charged with providing “insight for the low compliance.”
We will continue to monitor announcements inviting future participation on DWR’s LSAG MWELO Work Groups and keep our members informed of these opportunities.
