(1) Existing law authorizes the legislative body of an incorporated city and the county board of supervisors to license businesses carried on within their respective jurisdictions and to set license fees, as specified.
This bill would require a person who owns or operates a data center, prior to applying to a city or a county for an initial business license, equivalent instrument, or permit, to provide its water supplier, under penalty of perjury, an estimate of the expected water use, the anticipated source of water, and the data center's projected water use volume for the maximum day, maximum month, and average year. When applying to a city or county for an initial business license, the bill would require a person who owns or operates a data center to report, under penalty of perjury, on the application, an estimate of the expected water use, the anticipated source of water, and the data center's projected water use volume for the maximum day, maximum month, and average year. When applying to a city or county for a renewal of a business license, equivalent instrument, or permit, the bill would require a person who owns or operates a data center to report, under penalty of perjury, on the application, the data center's annual water use for the preceding calendar year, including total water use, direct water use, and indirect water use, as prescribed. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would define terms for purposes of these provisions.
Existing law establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission with various responsibilities with respect to developing and implementing the state's energy policies. Existing law establishes the Department of Water Resources and prescribes the powers and responsibilities of the department.
This bill would require the Department of Water Resources and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to develop, on or before January 1, 2029, guidelines and best practices to maximize the efficient use of natural resources to address the developing and emerging needs of technology in California that are consistent with urban water use objectives under prescribed provisions of law. The bill would specify that these guidelines and best practices include, among others, the use of closed-loop systems and nonpotable water. The bill would also require the department, in coordination with other relevant state agencies, to develop guidance that cities and counties may use for assessing projected water use, water efficiency measures, and cumulative water resource impacts of proposed data centers within the context of local and regional water management objectives.
(2) Existing law, the Urban Water Management Planning Act, requires every public and private urban water supplier that directly or indirectly provides water for municipal purposes to prepare and adopt an urban water management plan. Existing law requires an urban retail water supplier to quantify past, current, and projected water use, identifying the uses among water use sectors, including, among others, commercial, agricultural, and industrial. Existing law requires every urban water supplier to prepare and adopt a water shortage contingency plan as part of its urban water management plan. Existing law requires the water shortage contingency plan to include the procedures used in conducting an annual water supply and demand assessment, including the key data inputs and assessment methodology used to evaluate the urban water supplier's water supply reliability for the current year and one dry year. On or before July 1 of each year, existing law requires an urban water supplier to submit an annual water shortage assessment report to the department with information for anticipated shortage, triggered shortage response actions, compliance and enforcement actions, and communication actions consistent with the supplier's water shortage contingency plan.
This bill would require that data center demand be added to the above-described annual water supply and demand assessment and annual water shortage contingency plan, as specified.
(3) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Statutes affected:
AB 2619: 10632 WAT, 10632.1 WAT
02/20/26 - Introduced: 10632 WAT, 10632.1 WAT