New Law Requires Urban Water Meters

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law a measure that requires urban water suppliers to install water meters on all municipal and industrial service connections by January 1, 2025 and to bill for the water based on volume of use. Assembly Bill 2572, authored by Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego), also requires urban water suppliers to base water charges by volume of use by January 1, 2011 for customers who have meters by that date. AB 2572 affects Sacramento, Modesto, South Lake Tahoe, Woodland, Lodi, Elk Grove, Galt, Marysville, Oroville, and several other small communities that are not yet required to meter their water. Gov. Gray Davis signed a Kehoe-authored bill that required water suppliers receiving water from the Central Valley Project to install meters and bill customers by volume of use by 2013. That measure left only a few urban communities without a water meter mandate, and this year's AB 2572 took care of them. CLCA lobbied on behalf of AB 2572.