Placer County Drought Resilience Plan

The Drought Resilience Plan (DRP) identifies drought and water shortage risks affecting domestic wells in Placer County and propose both interim and long-term solutions. The plan improves preparedness and response efforts by working directly with affected communities and vulnerabilities. Developed in collaboration with Stantec, the California Department of Water Resources, and the Placer County Drought Resilience Task Force, the DRP reflects a coordinated effort to enhance the county’s resilience to drought conditions.

Placer County Drought Resilience Planning Documents

Drought Resilience Plan Slides

Drought and Water Shortage Risk Assessment

Summary of California Drought Resilience Legislation SB552

In September 2021, Senate Bill (SB) 552 was signed by Governor Newsom and enacted into law. SB 552 includes new responsibilities and requirements at both the state and local levels to help small water suppliers and rural communities reduce their risk of inadequate water supply during a water shortage event.

What Are the New Requirements?

SB 552 imposes new drought planning requirements on certain small water systems in Placer County. You can read more about SB552 Requirements here: https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Water-Use-And-Efficiency/SB-552

For state small water systems and domestic wells within the County's jurisdiction, the County of Placer will:

Establish a standing Drought and Water Shortage Task Force.
Develop a County Drought Resilience Plan that includes potential drought and water shortage risks and proposed interim and long-term solutions.

Drought Resilience Plan Update 7-17-25

Public Meeting Dates

Thursday 17 July 2025 6:00 pm

Public Meeting - 11434 B Ave. Auburn, CA 95603 | Jeff Brown Room 2

County Drought Resilience Plan Development

Senate Bill 552 requires all counties to improve drought and water shortage preparedness for state small water systems and domestic wells within a county’s jurisdiction by developing a County Drought Resilience Plan (County DRP). Plan elements must include:

Potential drought and water shortage risk
Proposed interim and long-term solutions for state smalls and domestic wells in the county.

Consider at a minimum:

Consolidations for existing water systems and domestic wells
Domestic well drinking water mitigation programs (e.g. well rehabilitation, assistance programs)
Provision of emergency and interim drinking water solutions
An analysis of the steps necessary to implement the plan
An analysis of funding sources available to implement the plan

The Department of Water Resource, through a stakeholder task force, prepared the County Drought Resilience Plan Guidebook which provides guidance on all elements including how to complete a vulnerability assessment that informs short-term response actions and long-term mitigation strategies and actions, examples of short-term response items and long term mitigation actions, and how to implement and maintain the County Drought Resilience Plan.

Additionally, SB 552 directed DWR to maintain and update its Water Shortage Vulnerability Scoring and Tool for counties to use in the plan preparation. DWR created the Water Shortage Vulnerability Explorer tool, which is accessible at the DWR website.

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Placer County Drought Resilience Plan