Folsom voters overwhelmingly passed Measure W in 2004, which approved the city’s annexation of the Plan Area and detailed conditions for developing the area. An important part of these conditions was that the city must secure a new water supply for the community.

To find a new supply, the city considered many factors, including:

• The city’s rights to water in Folsom Reservoir.
• How much water the new community will need.
• System optimization.
• How the latest water-saving technology and landscaping techniques could be used to ensure the most efficient use of water.

The city has ample rights to water stored in Folsom Reservoir. Much of this water does not get used in typical years. Over the past several decades, water use in Folsom has dropped due to several factors, including state mandates to reduce urban water use by 20 percent by 2020, water system optimization improvements, more efficient plumbing standards, and more. A portion of the “conserved” water achieved through these factors, which would otherwise flow down the American River for others to use, will serve the Plan Area instead.

To ensure compliance with Measure W and consistency with other legal requirements, the city filed an action in Sacramento Superior Court to validate the water supply plan and agreement to use conserved water to support the Plan Area. The court decreed that the water supply agreement is “lawful, valid, and enforceable and in the best interest of Folsom and all persons in any way interested therein. In addition, the water supply agreement is consistent with all applicable laws and obligations, including Measure W.”

New homes and businesses in the Plan Area will have the latest in innovative water-saving and other green technology, as well as water-efficient landscaping to maximize efficient water use. Landowners in the Plan Area invested approximately $8 million to fund the Water System Optimization Review Program to implement state-mandated water conservation regulations and enhance leak and loss detection and water infrastructure repairs at no cost to existing water customers.