Balancing economic prosperity and water supplies

Updated June 21, 2021
Balancing economic prosperity and water supplies

Homebuilding in California is essential—and even mandated—as the state faces a continuing lack of affordable housing for residents. The need for more housing is essential, even despite continued drought conditions.  We understand a delicate balance between growing our local economy and ensuring we have the adequate water resources both now  both now and into the future.

Here are things we take into account as Roseville prospers:

  • Thoughtful planning: Our planning process and urban water management planning efforts call for water assessments to ensure enough supply, even in dry years, to accommodate the added demand from new development. These efforts help us pinpoint current capacity, assess necessary expansions to infrastructure to access, and deliver additional water resources.

  • Water portfolio diversification: Our water contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is in perpetuity. We also have access to other water sources and continue to bolster infrastructure that will allow us to obtain and share water from other agencies. 

    We have a growing and sustainable groundwater program, which diversifies our water portfolio and is used during dry years. The groundwater basins act as an underground reservoir that we can use and refill when surface water supplies are ample.

    Not to mention, our growing recycled water system used for irrigation purposes is a sustainable water source that offsets drinking water supplies—that is a billion gallons annually.
  • More efficient development: As codes and regulations change, more efficient development also means new development is inherently more water-efficient—both indoor and outdoor. Our planning efforts and compliance with greener building codes and City imposed water-efficient landscape standards take into account, for example, reduced turf, efficient outdoor watering practices, high-efficiency interior fixtures, and hot water recirculation systems.

Collectively, these efforts will allow us to still grow responsibly, invest in projects that increase reliability, and spur economic development activity city- and region-wide. For additional information about our future water planning efforts, visit roseville.ca.us/waterfuture.