Report 2022-106 Recommendation 6 Responses

Report 2022-106: Department of Water Resources: Its Forecasts Do Not Adequately Account for Climate Change and Its Reasons for Some Reservoir Releases Are Unclear (Release Date: May 2023)

Recommendation #6 To: Water Resources, Department of

To ensure that it continually improves the effectiveness of its management of the State Water Project, DWR should develop and implement a formal, written process for reviewing its planning and operations at least once annually. This process should include the following:

1. An assessment of DWR's success at achieving each of the project's various objectives.

2. An evaluation of DWR's actions to achieve its objectives, including the decisions that it made in its planning and in its day-to-day management of the project. DWR should identify actions that assisted it in achieving its objectives and that would benefit its operations in the future, as well as actions that were less effective.

3. Documentation of lessons learned from the evaluation of its actions and, if necessary, updates to its planning or procedural documents to incorporate changes.

1-Year Agency Response

As referenced in Recommendation No. 4, Department of Water Resources (DWR) has developed policy and procedure documents for State Water Project (SWP) scheduling and water supply planning activities. These policies and procedures include making a monthly comparison of how actual conditions are trending relative to the prior month's water allocation study and sharing that comparison with the public water agencies receiving water from the SWP. These policies and procedures are reviewed regularly and updated as needed to address changing conditions, regulatory requirements, and operational agreements.

DWR provides the California Water Commission (Commission) an annual review of SWP operations and planning for the past water year as well as the planning for the upcoming water year, as referenced in DWRs 6-month audit response. At these publicly accessible Commission meetings, DWR provides its water supply objectives, a summary of key decisions made through the water year, and a discussion of any observations and lessons learned from the prior water year that will inform the planning for the next water year. This information is then available to the Commission as it prepares its annual report on SWP operations to the legislature.

Starting in 2024, DWR increased the frequency of the SWP Public Water Agency Water Operations Committee meetings from monthly to bi-weekly. During these committee meetings, DWR provides an overview of SWP water operations and a detailed comparison of previous and current water supply planning studies. In addition to these bi-weekly meetings, DWR also conducts an annual all-day fall workshop with the Public Water Agencies. In 2023 DWR expanded the agenda of these workshops to include a detailed walkthrough and comparison of SWP water supply planning studies, SWP water operations, and lessons learned for that given water year.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

6-Month Agency Response

On October 18, 2023, DWR provided the California Water Commission an annual review of the SWP Operations and Planning for Water Year (WY) 2023 and the approach to the SWP Planning and Operations for WY 2024. SWP's presentation to the California Water Commission is available through this webcast link: https://www.water-ca.com/archives.html. On December 4, 2023, and annually thereafter, DWR will provide an in-depth briefing of the past year's planning and operations to the Public Water Agencies at the full-day Water Management Workshop. DWR will develop a policy for conducting periodic reviews of SWP's planning and operations by May 2024.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

DWR continues to provide an annual review of SWP operations that is incorporated into the California Water Commission's annual report (https://cwc.ca.gov/-/media/CWC-Website/Files/Documents/2023/2022_SWPAnnualReview_Final.pdf). DWR is scheduled to provide its next review to the California Water Commission on November 15, 2023, when DWR will provide additional information on its operations.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

When we followed up with DWR about its response, staff indicated that DWR intends to implement the recommendation by submitting additional materials for the California Water Commission's next annual report, and that DWR is in the process of determining what additional materials it will provide. When DWR has done so, we will assess whether its actions address all elements of our recommendation.

All Recommendations in 2022-106

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.