(a) The department shall take both of the following actions to support implementation of the recommendations of its County Drought Advisory Group:

(1) Maintain, in partnership with the state board and other relevant state agencies, the risk vulnerability tool developed as part of the County Drought Advisory Group process and continue to refine existing data and gather new data for the tool, including, but not limited to, data on all of the following:

(A) Small water suppliers and nontransient noncommunity water systems serving a school.

(B) State small water systems and rural communities.

(C) Domestic wells and other self-supplied residents.

(2) Update the risk vulnerability tool for small water suppliers and rural communities periodically, by doing all of the following:

(A) Revise the indicators and construction of the scoring as more data becomes readily available.

(B) Make existing and new data publicly available on the California Open Data internet web portal.

(C) In consultation with other relevant state agencies, identify deficits in data quality and availability and develop recommendations to address these gaps.

(b) (1) The department, in collaboration with the state board and relevant state agencies, shall establish a standing interagency drought and water shortage task force to facilitate proactive state planning and coordination, both for predrought planning and postdrought emergency response, to develop strategies to enhance collaboration between various fields, and to consider all types of water users.

(2) The interagency drought and water shortage task force shall include representatives from local governments, community-based organizations, nonprofit technical assistance providers, the public, and experts in land use planning, water resiliency, and water infrastructure.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 245, Sec. 1. (SB 552) Effective January 1, 2022.)