BRINGING WATER AND LAND USE TOGETHER Final Report to the Community Foundation Water Initiative on the Equitable Integration of Water and Land Use Prepared by The Local Government Commission January 2019 Local Government Commission Leaders for Livable Communities CONTENTS Executive Summary .................................................................. 1 Defning The Challenge, Identifying Opportunities ..................................... 1 Equity Considerations ............................................................. 2 Statewide Challenges .............................................................. 2 Regional Diversity ................................................................. 3 Statewide Recommendations ....................................................... 3 Regional Recommendations ........................................................ 4 A Strategy For Achieving Integration ................................................. 5 V. Introduction ...................................................................... 5 Impetus For The Project ............................................................ 5 Background On The Issue .......................................................... 6 Water, Land Use And Equity ........................................................ 7 Situation Analysis Methods ........................................................ 10 VI. Status Of Current Water And Land-Use Integration ................................... 14 Challenges And Barriers To Statewide Integration .................................... 14 Regional Integration ............................................................. 17 The San Francisco Region ..................................................... 18 The Silicon Valley Region .......................................................... 18 The Central Valley Region ......................................................... 19 The Los Angeles Region ........................................................... 20 The San Diego Region ............................................................ 21 VII. Case Studies .................................................................... 22 Community Engagement .......................................................... 22 Collaboration .................................................................... 23 Planning ........................................................................ 25 Funding Strategies ............................................................... 27 Infrastructure ................................................................... 27 VIII. Opportunities And Recommendations For Improving Water And Land-Use Integration ... 28 Statewide Opportunities .......................................................... 29 Statewide Recommendations ...................................................... 30 Statewide Policies For Equitable Integration ......................................... 35 Regional Opportunities & Recommendations ........................................ 36 i IX. Bringing Water And Land-Use Together: How To Make It Happen ....................... 41 Similarities And Common Ground Across Regions .................................... 41 Major Variations Between Regions ................................................. 42 Greatest Needs Across The State ................................................... 43 Immediate Next Steps ............................................................ 44 Endnotes .......................................................................... 52 ii Bringing Water And Land Use Together EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Defning The Challenge, Identifying Opportunities California is moving toward a more holistic approach to managing our water and land Our current system is failing us. The disconnect resources as the 21st century unfolds. This between how our communities are organized perspective recognizes the interconnectivity and how our natural resources are managed between two traditionally fragmented sectors. is not only inefcient, but harmful to people and nature. Reconnecting water and land In 2005, the California Legislature passed use will ensure vibrant, resilient communities new laws that enable communities to join for all. Unfortunately, the disconnect is far together to adopt Integrated Regional more common across the country than the Water Management (IRWM) policies and integrated approach we so desperately need. practices. This comprehensive planning approach considers water resources in the The obstacles to better alignment are varied. context of an interconnected watershed Population growth and economic development with a network of regional governance, drive political boundaries, institutions and rather than as a combination of fragmented policy. Water supply is critical for economic parts. Unfortunately, the IRWM program is development, but water management tends to dominated by the water sector and in most run on shorter cycles and in response to – not regions has not pursued alignment with land in collaboration with – economic and land- 1 use. use planning. Strong political forces behind housing, production and energy industries Similarly, the Sustainable Communities often confict with ecological water supply Strategies (SCS) mandated through [legislation] and water quality needs.2 Those political establish a framework for aligning land boundaries and institutions are often at use practices (predominantly housing and odds with interdependent hydrologic and transportation) across jurisdictions within a ecologic functions.3 Despite the importance of larger geographic region. Yet very few SCSs integrated water management and land-use have taken water resources into account. planning, these factors illustrate the difculty in accomplishing this goal. While water management and land-use planning remain highly fragmented across Policies that favor sprawl development, the state, we are making progress toward a along with a lack of attention to the natural more integrated approach, especially when functions and limits of our environment, setting new state-level policies, regulations and often lead to degraded ecosystems, guidance. The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater unsustainable communities and exacerbated, Management Act (SGMA) is a leap forward disproportionate impacts on communities in this direction. For the frst time, local land already experiencing disadvantages. use agencies have an opportunity to be full partners with water agencies in shaping Disregard for interconnected systems has groundwater governance. It is too soon to led to segregation of land-use planning determine how well these two sectors are agencies and water management agencies integrating under SGMA, but early results are statewide. Yet, there is a growing awareness promising. and interest in alternative approaches, such as smart growth, integrated regional water management, green infrastructure and “multisolving.” 1 Bringing Water And Land Use Together “Multisolving” – also known as “multiple beneft and limits the implementation of integrated solutions” – refers to fnding solutions that solutions. Public and private entities compete address multiple issues or priorities with one with one another, instead of coordinating intervention or action, in which multiple sector eforts to maximize overall and shared or interested parties are needed, and each benefts. Developing a coalition of leaders voice matters equally. Multisolving is fexible – for integration, both within and across each it can start small, then scale up in size or out in of California’s major regions, will help realign geography. priorities, shift behavior, and change the existing segregated approach to planning. Climate Interactive, an NGO based in Washington, DC, coined this term as a way Limited Natural Resources to describe acting on climate change while California’s economy and population continue making your community more attractive, to grow at alarming rates. Natural resource livable and equitable.4 This term will be used availability so far is keeping up with demand, throughout this report in place of “multi– much thanks to human ingenuity and beneft” or “multi-purpose.” advances in technology. But these resources are fnite, and must be carefully managed. Equity Considerations Water is a limited resource. California’s The negative impacts of segregated and complex hydrology coupled with its incredibly misaligned planning are not distributed evenly fragmented water governance system across California’s communities. Integrating limits how much water is available to each water management and land-use planning community at any given point in time. is critically important to the resilience of our Conservation, efciency and reuse enable state, but must be achieved through actions regions to grow without increasing water that enhance equity. demand and still provide a reliable supply Inequities arise in the context of all to most of the state’s residents. Yet many public services – here, they often include underserved California communities face toxic pollution that hovers over some regular water shortages or water quality neighborhoods because zoning codes allowed disruptions. If current water infrastructure residential development next door to industrial is not adequately meeting the needs of all facilities; residential water and wastewater Californians, this begs the question of how the pipes skirt a community because the city state will meet future demand. that provides the water and wastewater Land is also a limited resource.