SB 88
WATER DIVERSION AND USE REPORTS DUE FEB. 1 by Noah Lopez for the Rancher Technical Assistance Program
When the holidays arrive, you know water reporting season is not far away. That’s right, the reporting deadline for the State Water Resource Control Board’s (Board’s) Water Measurement Regulations is almost here. Annual Water Diversion and Use Reports are due Feb. 1 and this year the Board has provided new resources to assist diverters in reporting. This article briefly reviews the reporting requirements, takes a look at some changes from last year, and explores the new resources from the SWRCB.
or over the type and size threshold but also diversions which are authorized to divert at or over a given threshold or which have previously reported diverting at or over a given threshold. For example, if you reported diversions of 105 acre feet in 2013 but only diverted 40 acre feet in every other year, you still need to monitor daily with an accuracy of 10 percent. One requirement that historically has caused issues is that the regulations also require diverters to upload a “datafile” containing the recorded measurements at the required frequency. This “datafile” can be an excel spreadsheet that lists the period and measurement. For example, a 250 acre-foot diversion would require daily recordings in an excel file from a measurement device with a ±10% accuracy. Additionally, reports for diversions over 10 acre-feet per year must also upload information about the device used to measure the diversion. The device accuracy
Overview of Regulations Historically referred to as “SB 88 regulations,” the California Code of Regulations sections 931938 require all diverters in the State to record water diversion and use and then submit annual reports on the SWRCB’s online Electronic Water Rights Management System (eWRIMS) Report Management System (RMS). This includes both direct diversions (like those from a creek) and diversions to storage (like Type & Size of Diversion (acre-feet/year) stockponds). While annual reporting is required Direct Diversion ≥ 1,000 af/year of all diversions, the Storage ≥ 1000 af/year regulations require measurement at Direct Diversion ≥ 100 af/year different frequencies and Storage ≥ 200 af/year accuracies depending on the type and size of diversion. The table Direct Diversion > 10 af/year here summarizes Storage ≥ 50 af/year these requirements. It is important to note Storage > 10 af/year that the measurement requirements not only apply to diversions All Diversions ≤10 af/year actually diverting at 40 California Cattleman January 2024
Required Accuracy
Required Monitoring Frequency
±10%
Hourly
±10%
Daily
±15%
Weekly
±15%
Monthly
estimation
Monthly