California SB 1188 (August 2023) requires the SWRCB to create minimum technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) standards for small water systems (under 10,000 service connections).
Once adopted, systems will have two years to show they meet the standards. The Board will likely start with requirements already used for funding assessments — but starting early helps a lot!
Quick Tips to Get Started:
- Gather information on how your system is run, managed, and financed.
- Organize what your team is already doing — it will save time later.
- Check out the current SWRCB Assessment form HERE.
Tip of the Month – Step 11: Policies
The current SWRCB TMF Assessment requires small water systems to have a policy manual that describes procedures pertinent to the water system’s management. At a minimum, the policies should cover:
- Nonpayment of water charges (CalMutuals SB 3 Sample Policy & Notices)
- Unauthorized use of water
- Hours worked and overtime
- Complaint responses
- Contract operators, if applicable
- Governing board activities (Big Guide for Small Systems: A Resource for Board Members)
CalMutuals continues to build a growing resource library to support mutual water companies. If your system has strong, well-developed policies, we invite you to share them so others can benefit. Please consider forwarding your policies to be included in the library.
Taking the time to gather and organize these materials now gives your system a valuable head start toward TMF compliance — and helps build a stronger, more resilient organization.