Protect Our Rain
Getting Rain Ready means protecting this limited and valuable source of water before the rains even start. Smart policies and everyday actions help keep our water safe and clean—and improve the health of our communities.
California’s increasingly scarce rain is a valuable source of water. Products like single-use plastics used by residents and businesses can end up in our local waterbodies after rainstorms. Chemicals used in our cars and gardens can get washed into the clean rainwater.
Together, government, businesses and residents can implement policies and take year-round action to protect an important source of water.
Laws that Protect Our Rain
State and local laws help to keep plastic, metals and other toxic substances out of our waterways
State Laws
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Passed in 2022, SB 54 aims to create a Circular Packaging Economy that will prevent plastic litter from ending up in our waterways. SB 54 establishes a new extended producer responsibility (EPR) program to manage packaging and single-use plastic foodware products across every sector of the economy. By requiring decreased single-use packaging along with increased recycling and more environmentally-friendly packaging design, the law will cut plastic waste and litter and protect our water.
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Signed into law in 2010, SB 356 aims to reduce the amount of copper and other toxic substances released by vehicle brakes from entering California’s streams, rivers, and marine environment. This law prohibits the sale of automobile brake pads sold in California containing more than trace amounts of copper, certain heavy metals, and asbestos. As of 2021, more than 60 percent of brake pads on the market are copper-free, which corresponds to an estimated 28 percent decrease in copper entering urban runoff.
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SB 270 went into effect in 2016 and prohibited most grocery, liquor and convenience stores from giving customers single-use plastic carryout bags. Discarded plastic bags are not readily recyclable and often become litter that damages our water. Statistics show a marked decrease in plastic bags retrieved during coastal cleanup days since the ban began.
Local Laws
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As of April 2024, the City of South Lake Tahoe, along with other cities around the state, has implemented a commercial ban on single-use plastic water bottles smaller than one gallon, following an initiative started in 2022. Plastic bottles break down into microplastics that can harm the health of people and the environment if they get into waterways.
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Starting in 2024, a fee of 25 cents is applied to all cups and containers that accompany to-go orders from food businesses in Truckee. The goal is to reduce waste and prevent litter, which pollutes waterways. Customers can avoid the fee by bringing their own reusables, or by choosing to dine-in.
Consumer Education Campaign that Protects Our Rain
Our Water Our World is a partnership between city- and county-based water pollution prevention agencies and garden centers and hardware stores that sell pest control products. It includes point-of-sale and online education efforts to help consumers identify products and practices that use less-toxic methods to control common home and garden pests. This reduces or eliminates the need to use pesticides and prevents the most harmful from entering waterways.
Our Water Our World shelf tags displayed at a hardware store.
Everyday Actions that Protect Our Rain
Californians can support policies, choose less-toxic products, and make everyday decisions to help protect our rainwater. To learn more about what you can do to protect our rain, click here.
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What You Can Do
