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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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California water officials say the state is entering a “new era” of water management as climate‑driven extremes force a fundamental overhaul of how water is stored, allocated, and protected.
This week, state leaders formally launched the first phase of the California Water Plan 2028, a multi‑year effort to modernize water planning amid historic swings between drought and record rainfall. The plan sets the first statewide water‑supply target in California history at nine million acre-feet by 2040, roughly the amount the state could lose as shrinking snowpack and hotter temperatures tighten long‑term water reliability.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced the plan in a post on X on Wednesday.
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"A new era for the California Water Plan begins today," the post said. "The formal launch of the California Water Plan 2028 marks the start of a multi-year effort to modernize statewide water planning in response to climate-driven extremes and long-term water reliability challenges."
Newsweek reached out to the California DWR by email for comment.
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The new plan establishes a coordinated framework to close widening water‑supply gaps caused by extreme hydrologic whiplash, from deep drought to flood‑producing storms within the same season. The new plan will guide state, regional, and local agencies in developing strategies, including expanded water storage, groundwater recharge, and nature‑based solutions.
“Climate change is reshaping life in California through historic droughts and record storms that threaten the farms that feed the nation, communities that depend on reliable water, and the environment we all share,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a DWR press release announcing the new plan. “The 2028 Water Plan is a commitment to every Californian that we will capture, store, and conserve the water our state—the fourth largest economy in the world—needs to thrive, no matter what climate change throws at us.”
DWR Director Karla Nemeth said the new plan is essential for adapting water systems to withstand ongoing climate stress.
“California’s hydrology is changing,” Nemeth said in the press release. “We’re living that now. Extreme wet swings to intensely dry within the same season. The work of crafting the next California Water Plan will help us plan smarter to deal with the way climate change is testing our water systems.”
The new California Water Plan is directly intertwined with Senate Bill 72, which mandates the modernization of statewide water planning and establishes the framework guiding this overhaul. SB 72 requires the Department of Water Resources to improve data collection, set measurable water‑supply targets, and create a coordinated planning structure aligning state, regional, and local actions—requirements that underpin the Water Plan 2028’s first phase.
The plan’s headline feature, a statewide water‑supply target of nine million acre‑feet by 2040, emerges directly from SB 72’s directive to identify and close long‑term water‑supply gaps driven by climate‑induced extremes.
The first major public meeting tied to the California Water Plan 2028 will take place in April, when the newly formed advisory committee—comprising urban and agricultural water suppliers, tribes, environmental justice groups, labor, and business representatives—convenes to shape the plan’s next steps.
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