The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Water is a public resource that the California Constitution protects against waste and unreasonable use.

(b) Growing population, climate change, and the need to protect and grow California’s economy while protecting and restoring our fish and wildlife habitats make it essential that the state manage its water resources as efficiently as possible.

(c) Diverse regional water supply portfolios will increase water supply reliability and reduce dependence on the Delta.

(d) Reduced water use through conservation provides significant energy and environmental benefits, and can help protect water quality, improve streamflows, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(e) The success of state and local water conservation programs to increase efficiency of water use is best determined on the basis of measurable outcomes related to water use or efficiency.

(f) Improvements in technology and management practices offer the potential for increasing water efficiency in California over time, providing an essential water management tool to meet the need for water for urban, agricultural, and environmental uses.

(g) The Governor has called for a 20 percent per capita reduction in urban water use statewide by 2020.

(h) The factors used to formulate water use efficiency targets can vary significantly from location to location based on factors including weather, patterns of urban and suburban development, and past efforts to enhance water use efficiency.

(i) Per capita water use is a valid measure of a water provider’s efforts to reduce urban water use within its service area. However, per capita water use is less useful for measuring relative water use efficiency between different water providers. Differences in weather, historical patterns of urban and suburban development, and density of housing in a particular location need to be considered when assessing per capita water use as a measure of efficiency.

(Added by Stats. 2009, 7th Ex. Sess., Ch. 4, Sec. 1. (SB 7 7x) Effective February 3, 2010.)