Bill > S279

Introduced Session

This bill would specify a minimum 20-year planning duration for the New Jersey Statewide Water Supply Plan ("plan") and add new requirements for the plan. Under current law, the plan is only required to have projections of Statewide and regional water supply demands for the "duration of the plan." However, the law does not specify what that duration is. Water supply planning requires a long-term planning duration because efforts to plan and construct new water supply projects and implement conservation measures can take many years. This bill would require the plan to include projections of Statewide and regional water supply demands for a planning duration of at least 20 years, and require those projections to be based upon the latest available population projections from authoritative sources. It would also require projections of net water availability for each major water supply source in the State for a planning duration of at least 20 years, reflecting the projected demands and total water availability. To provide a better blueprint for water supply planning, the bill would require the plan to also include: (1) measures for the protection of ecologically sensitive water supply sources, including waters in the pinelands area and the Highlands Region and other waters designated by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for antidegradation protection; (2) an assessment of the potential impacts of sea level rise, changes in rainfall patterns, temperature increases, and other threats to water supply sources for a planning duration of at least 40 years, and a plan to address these impacts; (3) a plan to address all existing and projected water supply deficits in the State; and (4) an evaluation of water use efficiency and water loss in the State, and a plan for increasing water use efficiency and reducing water loss. The bill would require the DEP to focus its legislative and administrative recommendations for the protection of watershed areas on water supply watersheds and aquifer recharge areas. Finally, current law requires that the plan be revised and updated at least once every five years. The most recent revisions to the plan were adopted by the DEP on October 5, 2017. However, prior to that revision, the plan had not seen a significant revision since 1996. This bill would provide that, beginning October 5, 2022, the DEP is prohibited from allocating any funding from the "Water Supply Bond Act of 1981" for any purpose unless and until it has adopted appropriate revisions and updates to the plan.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Linda Greenstein (D)*,  Bob Smith (D), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee (on 01/11/2022)

Official Document