Office of Emergency Services: state matching funds: water system infrastructure improvements.

Assembly Member Bennett's proposal to establish a Rural Water Infrastructure for Wildfire Resilience Program addresses aging water systems in California's high-risk fire zones through state matching funds for infrastructure improvements. The program, to be administered by the Office of Emergency Services (OES), would support communities within the Wildland Urban Interface located in designated high or very high fire hazard severity zones.

The program authorizes funding for specific water infrastructure upgrades, including waterline expansion, additional fire hydrants, enhanced distribution capacity, system interconnections, and backup power generation. OES would coordinate with the Department of Water Resources, State Water Resources Control Board, and Office of the State Fire Marshal to implement these improvements. The bill establishes prioritization criteria focusing on water systems serving 15,000 or fewer connections and projects near national resource waters or headwaters, as defined by the federal Clean Water Act.

Communities seeking funding must demonstrate alignment with existing wildfire protection frameworks, such as community wildfire protection plans or local hazard mitigation plans, and provide technical documentation of infrastructure needs through water system master plans or engineering assessments. The program's implementation depends on voter approval of a climate or natural resources bond measure in the November 2024 general election. According to the bill's findings, more than two million California households - approximately one in four residential structures - are situated within or near high fire hazard severity zones, as mapped by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.