Water Quality and Supply Issues Monthly Update - December 2025
As the year comes to a close, we want to wish our members and partners across California’s construction and development community a safe, joyful, and well-deserved holiday season.
CICWQ appreciates the dedication of those working every day to build housing, infrastructure, and communities while navigating complex water-quality and water-supply requirements. Even during the holidays, regulatory and policy activity does not slow down. Staying informed remains essential.
In this final update of the year, we are sharing key developments shaping water quality compliance, project planning, and regulatory certainty heading into 2026. These updates highlight why engagement matters. They also show where CICWQ continues to advocate on behalf of our members and the broader industry.
🔍 Here’s what you need to know this month
1️⃣ 🏗️ Stormwater Permit Decision Pushed Back
The Los Angeles Regional Water Board has delayed action on a proposed permit affecting large commercial and institutional sites. Learn what this means for compliance costs and regulatory reach.
2️⃣ 💧 State Water Project Sets Initial Supply Outlook
Above-average reservoir levels and early winter storms have shaped California’s first State Water Project allocation. See what the 10 percent allocation signals for the year ahead.
3️⃣ ⚖️ Federal Proposal Targets WOTUS Definition
A new federal rulemaking seeks to redefine the scope of the Waters of the United States following a major Supreme Court decision. Understand the potential implications for permitting and jurisdiction nationwide.
👇Read each update below to understand what is changing, why it matters, and how it may affect your projects and operations.
DECEMBER NEWSWORTHY ITEMS
1️⃣ Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Stormwater Permit Adoption Delayed at Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Hearing
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) is considering a sweeping, and certainly costly, new stormwater runoff permit specifically targeting commercial, industrial, and institutional properties larger than 5 acres within two large urban watersheds in southwest Los Angeles County.
The proposed runoff permit, abbreviated CII, is based on a final Residual Designation Authority decision from the U.S. EPA in 2024, targeting pollutants in urban runoff, primarily copper and zinc, and requiring the Regional Board to adopt the permit. The proposed CII permit is widely opposed by a range of property ownership and management interests (including CICWQ), as well as by a host of commercial and industrial businesses and trade groups operating in affected areas, and including many county public works agencies, cities, and local districts.
Statewide legislation has been proposed to mimic the permit requirements but has failed twice to advance in Sacramento, first in 2022 and again in 2025. Attempts to revive the bill are expected in 2026. We will be on the lookout and keep our readers informed!
Just hours before the scheduled adoption hearing on November 18, 2025, the Regional Board decided to pull the proposed CII permit from consideration and instead hold an informational workshop, where the Regional Board members interacted with staff and an array of stakeholders, most voicing major concerns with limited, complex, and costly compliance options.
CICWQ recently collaborated with several property and construction industry interests in southern California to submit a comment letter to the LARWQCB in September 2025 regarding the Proposed CII Permit and to present our concerns at the Nov. 18 workshop.
👇Read our comment letter and view our coalition presentation.
2️⃣ California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Releases First Update to State Water Project Supply Allocation
Heading into what is expected to be a drier-than-normal winter for California, DWR just released the first update to the State Water Contractors' supply allocation, setting it at 10% of requested supplies. As this is the first update of the water year, changing hydrologic conditions over the coming months will certainly influence future allocation results. The initial allocation was attributed to favorable runoff conditions and slightly above-average reservoir storage levels, driven by beneficial rainfall and snow events in late October and November 2025.
3️⃣ Federal Rulemaking Proposal to Define Waters of the United States Issued in November 2025
The United States Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency recently issued a proposed rulemaking to update the definition of Waters of the United States, also known as WOTUS. The proposed rulemaking process follows the United States Supreme Court’s Sackett decision in March 2023, which sought to clarify jurisdictional boundaries for applying aspects of the Clean Water Act to property development near waterways. Analyses of the proposed rulemaking point to significant definitional changes to important environmental features and interpretations, such as tributaries, relatively permanent features, and ditches. The proposed rule is currently within a 45-day comment period, which closes on January 5, 2026.
