Council Co-Sponsors Water Innovation Bill

The Bay Area Council is proud to partner with the California Municipal Utilities Association in sponsoring SB 351 which authorizes the creation of the Office of Water Innovation to accelerate investments and adoption of water innovation technology. The Water Innovation Act authored by Sen. Anna M. Caballero (Salinas) is part of a strategic package of water and climate legislation introduced this week.

SB 351 would create the Office of Water Innovation which would work with stakeholders across the water sector to identify regulations that stifle innovation and would establish a Water Innovation Fund to help local water users adopt innovative technologies. Despite being a world leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, water technology accounts for less than one percent of California’s venture capital investments.

Meanwhile, rival technology hubs in Israel, Australia, Spain, and elsewhere are racing to develop new industry clusters around water technology entrepreneurship. SB 351 sends a strong signal that California intends to lead the upcoming technological revolution in the water sector, as it has in so many other sectors of the economy. The Council urges our members to demonstrate support for this bill. To submit a letter of support for the bill, please send this completed template to Policy Associate Anna Sciaruto. For more information on the bill, please contact Vice President of Public Policy Adrian Covert.