State Water Resources
Control Board
Division of Drinking Water (DDW)
Electronic Annual Report (eAR) to the Drinking Water
Program
Frequently Asked Questions by Water Systems
February 2020
Please
read this FAQ before starting a new report. Be sure to acknowledge that you have done so
at the bottom of this FAQ.
BACKGROUND
1.
Under what authority does the Division of Drinking Water (DDW, formerly
the California Department of Public Health, or CDPH) require public water
systems to submit an electronic Annual Report (eAR)?
2.
Why is the report needed?
3.
When did DDW develop the online electronic reporting
format?
GENERAL EAR INFORMATION
5.
I am a new eAR reporter. What user guidance is available?
5.
When is this year's report due?
6.
Can I review last year’s report?
7.
What is new in this year’s eAR form?
8.
What contact information should
be reported – contact information current as of the
end of calendar year 2019
or contact information current as
of the time of reporting?
9.
When I create a new 2019 eAR, some information
has already been entered into the report. Where did this information come from?
10.
What data entry formats are required? (To avoid an error message prompt)
11.
Can I submit the report in hard copy?
12.
How can I print the final report?
13.
Can multiple users register for a water system to complete the eAR? If so, how can
they all participate in preparing the eAR? Can they enter data into different sections of
the report at the same time?
14.
Can I upload my water system’s Water Quality Emergency Notification Plan
(WQENP)?
15.
Can I upload my water system’s Consumer Confidence Report (CCR)?
16.
How do I report problems with the eAR
or make suggestions?
REVISION
AND COMPLETION PROCESS
17.
How
do I know if my EAR submission was accepted or rejected?
18.
Can I change any information once the report is
submitted?
19.
My eAR was returned for revision. How can I ensure it is accepted when revised
and resubmitted?
END
USES OF DATA
20.
Does the public have access to this information?
21.
How does DDW process the data?
22.
What are additional applications for the data?
BACKGROUND
1.
Under what authority does the Division of Drinking Water (DDW,
formerly the California Department of Public Health, or CDPH) require public
water systems to submit an electronic Annual Report (eAR)?
ANSWER: Section 116530 of the California Health and Safety Code (CHSC)
specifies that a public water system shall submit a technical report to the CDPH
(now DDW) when requested. DDW has established a requirement for every public
water system under DDW jurisdiction or Local Primacy Agency (LPA) jurisdiction
(i.e., County Environmental Health Departments) to annually submit a technical
report specifying contact and operational information for the prior calendar
year.
2.
Why is the report needed?
ANSWER:
Valuable information is taken from the annual report to assist in the
implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act for all water utilities in
California.
3.
When did DDW develop the online electronic reporting
format?
ANSWER: To improve the efficiency of information sharing and analysis, DDW
first used online reporting for only water conservation information as part of
the 2008 eAR. This was called “Part A – Drought,
Usage and Emergency Information.” The full annual report was intended to be
submitted electronically via the DRINC portal beginning with the 2009 annual
report. Due to functionality problems on the DRINC portal, many of the 2009
annual reports were submitted in other formats. Changes implemented with the
2010 eAR resulted in a significant increase in the
number of annual reports submitted electronically through DRINC, and the number
continues to increase with each subsequent release of the eAR.
DDW is continuing to improve the process of electronic data gathering.
GENERAL
EAR INFORMATION
4.
I am a new eAR
reporter. What user guidance is
available?
ANSWER: A User Guidance Document is available at this
link: User Guidance Document This document provides information and advice to new users,
covering topics ranging from account creation to report submission. You can also view the User Guidance Document
at any time by clicking the User Guidance Document link at the bottom of any
page on the eAR Portal.
5.
When is this year's report due?
ANSWER: The 2019 eAR is due April 19, 2020.
6.
Can I review last year’s report?
ANSWER: Yes. Last year’s report can be
viewed as this year’s report is being completed. At the top of each section of
the eAR is a link: “To view last year’s report, click
HERE”. On Internet Explorer, left-clicking HERE will open a new tab displaying
that section of the report with the fields filled with information submitted
the previous year. It is suggested to instead right-click HERE and select “Open
in new window” to be able to view the current eAR and
last year’s eAR at the same time.
7.
What is new in this year’s eAR form?
ANSWER: There are three sections of the LWS eAR with
changes:
Ø
Section 5 - Water Production was updated to include redundant reporting details
Ø
Section 6 - Water Rates,
Affordiability, And Finances was revised with additional detailed questions.
Ø
Section 16 - Water
Conservation and Drought Preparedness was revised with additional detailed
questions.
8.
What contact information should be reported – contact
information current as of the end of calendar year 2019 or contact information current
as of the time of reporting?
ANSWER: DDW expects PWS reporters to report current contact information at the
time of reporting for the eAR.
9.
When I create a new 2019 eAR, some
information has already been entered into the report. Where did this information come from?
ANSWER: Some of the fields in the 2019 eAR are
pre-filled with information from the DDW database (the Safe Drinking Water
Information System, or SDWIS). The rest of the fields in each section can be
prefilled from the 2018 eAR by clicking the "Prefill
this Section" link, provided the 2018 report was submitted and deemed
complete. The user may then update that information for the 2019 report and
complete the fields that are not pre-filled. TIP: You can compare the current
report with your responses in the previous year’s report by opening the previous
year’s report in another window or tab. Click the “MY EAR REPORTS” tab, select
the report you want to open, right click the “View” link, and then click “Open
in new tab” or “Open in new window.
10.
What data entry formats are required? (To avoid an error
message prompt)
ANSWER: Responses in certain fields are now required to follow a specified
format as shown below:
|
Phone
number:
|
(XXX)
XXX-XXXX
|
|
Email
address:
|
xxx@xxx.xxx
|
|
Date:
|
MM/DD/YYYY
with the month from 1 to 12 and the day from 1 to 31
|
|
Month:
|
from
1 to 12
|
|
Day:
|
from
1 to 31
|
|
Integer:
|
whole
number (e.g., 10 instead of 10.2) AND without commas (e.g., 1000 instead of
1,000)
|
|
Number:
|
without
commas, dollars, symbols, letters, or extra spaces in front of the number
(e.g.,
1000.33 instead of 1,000.33 or $1000.33)
|
If the specified format is not followed, a validation
error will appear and you will not be able to leave
that section of the report until the error is fixed.
Please Note: Certain questions/fields must be answered before your report can
be submitted. If you don’t think a mandatory field applies to your water system,
or if you simply do not know the answer (AND have no way of getting the answer
in a timely manner), you can enter “N/A” or “0” (zero) as appropriate for the
question/field so that these questions/fields will not be left blank and
flagged with an error. You can check the
“Finalize” section of the eAR to see what mandatory
questions/fields (if any) have not been answered.
11.
Can I submit the report in hard copy?
ANSWER: Hard copy submittal is not encouraged. If a water system does not have
access to the internet, such as in some remote locations, DDW or the LPA may
accept a hard copy submittal of the information required by the eAR. DDW or the LPA will then input this information via
the eAR Portal on behalf of the water system. Please contact your district or LPA office to
receive a mailing address to send a hard copy of the report.
12.
How can I print the final report?
ANSWER: Once the 2019 eAR
has been submitted, it will be listed under the MY EAR REPORTS tab
along with all other eARs that have been submitted by
the user (or previous water system representatives). On the right side of this
section are options to VIEW or PRINT each report.
13.
Can multiple users register for a water system to
complete the eAR? If so, how can
they all participate in preparing the eAR? Can they enter data into different sections of
the report at the same time?
ANSWER: Yes, a water system can
have multiple registered users, and they can input information into the eAR at the same time provided they are not working on the
same section of the eAR. The eAR
sections are separated by tabs at the top of the page, and changes are saved
section by section as the user navigates through the report. If working in
separate tabs, multiple people can input information at the same time and each
person’s edits will be saved. Please be aware that no further changes may be
made to an eAR once the submit button has been
pressed (unless the eAR is returned to the water
system for revision).
14.
Can I upload my water system’s Water Quality Emergency
Notification Plan (WQENP)?
ANSWER: Yes, you can upload your water system’s
Water Quality Emergency Notification Plan (WQENP) through the eAR Portal. Just go to the “MY WQENP UPLOADS” tab and click
“Upload new WQENP file.” Please Note: If
a WQENP file for your water system has already been uploaded, you do not need
to upload a new one UNLESS the new WQENP has changed from the previous one. To upload an updated WQENP file, click the
“Upload” link to the right of the previously uploaded file. This will remove the previous WQENP file from
the DDW database, so if you need to keep a copy of the previously uploaded
WQENP file, click the View link, then download the previous WQENP file before
uploading the new WQENP file.
15.
Can I upload my water system’s Consumer Confidence Report
(CCR)?
ANSWER: Yes, you can upload your water system’s CCR
and CCR certificate through the eAR Portal. To upload your water system’s CCR, go to the
MY CCR UPLOADS tab and click the “Upload new 2019 Consumer Confidence Report”
link near the bottom of the page. Once
you have uploaded the CCR, you can upload the CCR Certificate by clicking the
“Upload” link under the CERTIFICATE column.
Please Note: your CCR and CCR Certificate should be uploaded in either
PDF or DOC format (PDF is strongly recommended). Other file formats may cause issues when
viewed by the public. You must upload
the CCR and CCR Certificate for calendar year 2019 by July 1, 2020. For
information on how to complete your CCR, please
reference prepare your CCR.
16.
How do I report problems with the eAR or make suggestions?
ANSWER: Any problems identified in the functionality of the 2019 eAR
or the DRINC Portal should be reported to the DRINC Portal administrator
at DRINC@waterboards.ca.gov.
Suggestions are welcomed and should be provided via the COMMENT field included
on the INTRO tab of the 2019 eAR.
REVISION AND COMPLETION PROCESS
17.
How do I know if my eAR submission was accepted
or rejected?
ANSWER: The
water system is not informed when district/LPA staff have completed the review
and the eAR is accepted. You can check the status of your
eAR by going to the the MY
EAR REPORTS tab and checking the STATUS column.
If the status is “Submitted”, the eAR has not
yet been reviewed by district/LPA staff.
If the status is “Completed”, the eAR has been
reviewed by district/LPA staff and deemed complete.
If the eAR is rejected and
requires revision, an email will be sent to the PWS reporter(s) informing them
of the status change. The status of the eAR in the MY
EAR REPORTS tab will change to “Needs Revision”.
18.
Can I change any information once the report is submitted?
ANSWER: Once the eAR has been submitted, a reporter
cannot modify or add to the information in the report. If you need to make
changes or the report was not complete when submitted, contact your local
regulatory office and request that they return the eAR
for revision. Once you have revised the eAR it can be
resubmitted.
19.
My eAR was returned for revision.
How can I ensure it is accepted when
revised and resubmitted?
ANSWER: When the eAR is returned for revision, the response steps generally include:
ü Email to the reporter(s)
informing them that an eAR needs to be revised.
ü eAR Portal provides district/LPA
staff with a comment field for the reviewer.
ü The reviewer uses the
comment field to provide instructions for what additional information or changes
are needed to resubmit for completion. If additional information is needed, it
is suggested the eAR reporter contact the district or
LPA representative serving the PWS.
END USES OF DATA
20.
Does the public have access to this information?
ANSWER: Some information gathered and/or updated via the eAR
is available to the public via the Public Drinking Water Watch page, located
here: http://sdwis.waterboards.ca.gov/PDWW.
All information submitted via the eAR is public
information (except for confidential locational information and personally
identifiable information) and can be accessed through a Public Records Act
Request. Information provided on the registration page (name and title, email
address, and work phone number) are disclosable report information that may be
obtained through the Public Records Act.
21.
How does DDW process the data?
ANSWER:
DDW and LPA representatives update the primary database, Safe Drinking Water Information
System (SDWIS) including: contact
information, changes in population and changes in service connections.
Additional review focuses of the annual report include verification of the
number of active sources, the use of standby sources, and compliance with
operator certification requirements.
DDW is also gathering information on water conservation
for use by the State in the implementation of the 20X2020 Water
Conservation Plan and information to use in the development
of the Safe Drinking Water Plan updates.
DDW provides a view of the
SDWIS content as it was reported in the eAR in multiple
methods:
Ø Viewing system by system
via Public Drinking Water Watch (PDWW) https://sdwis.waterboards.ca.gov/PDWW/
Ø Bulk view of eAR results statewide is shared here:
https://data.ca.gov/search/field_tags/drinking-water-351/field_topic/water-46?sort_by=changed
Ø Requests received via the
Public Request Act are processed as needed using specific DDW criteria.
22.
What are additional applications for the data?
ANSWER:
Agencies use eAR information to drive their business
processes.
a)
SWRCB
a.
DDW
is developing Lead Service Line Interactive GIS Map
b.
DFA
utilizes eAR information
c.
DFA
Operator Certification Unit
d.
ORPP
uses the eAR information for the following:
i. Policy Analysis
1.
Section
6A informs our works on AB 401 and SB998
2.
Section
3. Connections, and Section 17. Conservation: implementation of Water
Efficiency Legislation AB 1668 and SB 606 (2018).
3.
Section
5. Water Supplied, and 6B. Water Deliveries: based on the information form the
Department of Water Resources the primary purpose is for California Water Plan,
including balance of urban, agricultural , and
environmental water use. DWR also
reports other programs have been using the data, such as Urban Water Management
Program, and Bay-Delta Office.
Implementation of the of Sustainable Groundwater Management Act by both
DWR and the Water Board (led by ORPP) will also rely on the EAR data.
4.
Section
6A. Water Rates: supports work required by AB 401, and
will support implementation of SB 998.
5.
Section
15. System Operation – Distribution: collecting data to inform development of
water loss performance standards, as required by SB 555. The State Water Board initiated the
rulemaking in 2019.
6.
Section
18. Climate Change: State Water Board’s comprehensive response to climate change
resolution (not a policy)
ii. Supporting the development
of regulatory criteria
1.
EAR
data may be used to inform development of various indicators of water system
sustainability and compliance with the Human Right to Water statute
iii. ORPP Publications &
Programs
1.
The
AB 401 report (see https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/assistance/)
uses information from EAR Section 6A (water rates).
2.
Affordability:
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/assistance/
3.
Climate
Change: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/climate/ (note that users are referred to specific
programs for details, e.g. water quality, water rights, drinking water,
regions, etc.)
4.
Groundwater:
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/groundwater/
5.
Implementation
of Water Efficiency Legislation of 2018: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/california_statutes.html
6.
Water
Loss Control: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/water_loss_control.html
b)
Department
of Water Resources (DWR)
a.
Background:
i. Since 2014, DDW has been
collecting data for DWR collaborating to streamline redundant reporting for
their Public Water System Statistics (PWSS) Survey.
b.
Uses:
i. Generally, fives sections
of eAR data assist with state and regional planning:
contact information, population, service connections, water production, and
water deliveries.
ii. Development of the
California Water Plan https://water.ca.gov/Programs/California-Water-Plan
iii. Urban Water Management Plan
https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Water-Use-And-Efficiency/Urban-Water-Use-Efficiency
iv. The Truckee River Operating
Agreement (TROA)
www.cd.water.ca.gov/cnwa/troa.cfm
c.
Where
is it?
i. The data is not published
online; however, the data is public information and available upon request
using the contact information provided online: https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Water-Use-And-Efficiency/Land-And-Water-Use/Public-Water-Systems-Statistics-Surveys
