Section 984 - Adjustments(a) An urban retail water supplier may submit to the Board a request for a parameter adjustment to its real water loss standard based on system-specific conditions affecting operations and system conditions.(b) A request for a parameter adjustment must include a description of specific parameter input(s) or data that would be adjusted, documentation supporting the request, and an assessment of changes from the adjustment of input(s). (1) A supplier may request to use a different rise in price of water if the supplier demonstrates that the alternative value: (A) Is not less than the real discount rate, 3.5 percent; and(B) Has been developed and certified by a licensed engineer.(c) Parameter adjustment requests submitted after July 1, 2023, will not be accepted unless accompanied by a satisfactory explanation for the supplier's inability to submit that request prior to that date. Satisfactory explanations include that the supplier, with reasonable diligence, did not yet have access to measured data necessary for parameter calculations or that the supplier is replacing obsolete data with more recent, higher-quality data.(d) Suppliers that have completed a hydraulic consolidation shall report to the Board within one year and submit the following information: (1) The names and identification numbers of all involved systems;(2) The date of consolidation;(3) Map(s) showing service areas of all involved systems.(e) If a supplier hydraulically consolidates another system within its service area, the supplier will have a period of 5 years before being given new water loss standards. (1) The supplier must continue to submit annual water loss audits, incorporating the consolidated system into its own audit no more than one year after consolidation.(2) In the time period after the consolidation occurs but before the new water loss standards are given, the supplier will have no water loss standards and will not be evaluated for compliance with a water loss standard.(3) For each year the supplier has no real water loss standard, it must survey at least as frequently as the previous period and submit documentation of this requirement to the Board within 6 months of the end of each year.(4) New real water loss standards will be assessed pursuant to section 981 subdivision (c) starting one full compliance period after the new real water loss standard is assigned.(f) Any other adjustment requests may be submitted to the Board at any time and will be considered based on the merits of the proposed change. (1) Suppliers that have model inputs that changed significantly from the baseline period may request an adjustment to their water loss standards by submitting a request that includes the following: (A) Data for a new baseline period, which consists of 4 consecutive years of water audit data;(B) An explanation for why the data in the new baseline period is more appropriate than the data in the previous baseline period. Satisfactory explanations include better data quality in the new baseline period and that more recent data can better represent a system that has changed.(2) Staff can initiate an adjustment process for any system that has significant changes in data compared to the baseline if at least 3 compliance assessments have passed.(g) The executive director, or executive director's designee, shall provide a written decision on a request to adjust an urban retail water supplier's real water loss standard made pursuant to subdivision (a) within 90 days of receiving the request and supporting documentation. This may be extended by the executive director or the executive director's designee upon a determination that the supporting documentation is insufficient.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 23, § 984
1. New section filed 2-6-2023; operative 4-1-2023 (Register 2023, No. 6). Note: Authority cited: Sections 1058 and 10608.34, Water Code. Reference: Article X, Section 2, California Constitution; Section 116275, Health and Safety Code; Sections 102, 104, 105, 350, 516, 1846, 10608.12 and 10608.34, Water Code.
1. New section filed 2-6-2023; operative 4/1/2023 (Register 2023, No. 6).