“Good Luck Fixing the Problem”: Small Low-Income Community Participation in Collaborative Groundwater Governance and Implications for Drinking Water Source Protection

Society and Natural Resources (Routledge) | June 10th, 2020

There is increasing interest in the potential of source water protection to address chronic challenges with small systems and rural drinking water provision. Such a plann

There is increasing interest in the potential of source water protection to address chronic challenges with small systems and rural drinking water provision. Such a planning and management approach to increasing safe drinking water access, however, will likely require leveraging multi-stakeholder collaborative governance venues to this effect. This paper investigates the prospects of doing so using the case of California’s groundwater reform process known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act or SGMA. Interviews with drinking water stakeholders from small low-income communities in the San Joaquin Valley show how existing power and resource disparities limit the prospects of integrating rural drinking water priorities into regional planning. Long-term, more fundamental changes will be needed to meaningfully transform water management in this direction. Short-term state intervention is needed to protect equity and public good goals, raising potential contradictions between devolved water management and improved drinking water access that need to be addressed.

2015 Urban Water Management Plan

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | June 1st, 2016

Metropolitan’s 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) has been prepared in compliance with Water Code Section 10608.36 of SB X7-7, which was enacted in 2009, a

Metropolitan’s 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) has been prepared in compliance with Water Code Section 10608.36 of SB X7-7, which was enacted in 2009, and Sections 10610 through 10656 of the Urban Water Management Planning Act (Act), which were added by Statute 1983, Chapter 1009, and became effective on January 1, 1984. This Act requires that every urban water supplier providing water for municipal purposes to more than 3,000 customers or supplying more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually prepare and adopt, in accordance with prescribed requirements, an urban water management plan. The Act requires urban water suppliers to describe and evaluate sources of water supply, efficient uses of water, demand management measures, implementation strategy and schedule, and other relevant information and programs. Urban water suppliers are required by the Act to update their UWMP and submit a complete plan to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) every five years. An UWMP is required in order for a water supplier to be eligible for DWR administered state grants and loans and drought assistance. As with Metropolitan’s previous plans, the 2015 UWMP does not explicitly discuss specific activities undertaken by its member agencies unless they relate to one of Metropolitan’s water demand or supply management programs. Presumably, each member agency will discuss these activities in its UWMP. The information included in the 2015 UWMP represents the most current and available planning projections of supply capability and demand developed through a collaborative process with the member agencies. Metropolitan’s Board recently adopted the 2015 Integrated Water Resources Plan, Water Tomorrow (2015 IRP Update), which represents Metropolitan’s comprehensive planning process and will serve as Metropolitan’s blueprint for long-term water reliability, including key supply development and water use efficiency goals.

2017 Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) Multi-Year Plan

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | January 17th, 2017

Water Board passed Resolution No. 92-043 directing the Executive Officer to send a letter to regulated dischargers requiring them to implement a regional multi-media poll

Water Board passed Resolution No. 92-043 directing the Executive Officer to send a letter to regulated dischargers requiring them to implement a regional multi-media pollutant monitoring program for water quality (RMP) in San Francisco Bay. The Water Board’s regulatory authority to require such a program comes from California Water Code Sections 13267, 13383, 13268 and 13385. The Water Board offered to suspend some effluent and local receiving water monitoring requirements for individual discharges to provide cost savings to implement baseline portions of the RMP, although they recognized that additional resources would be necessary. The Resolution also included a provision that the requirement for a RMP be included in discharger permits. The RMP began in 1993, and over ensuing years has been a successful and effective partnership of regulatory agencies and the regulated community.  The goal of the RMP is to collect data and communicate information about water quality in San Francisco Bay in support of management decisions. 

2017 SGMA Annual Report South American Subbasin (5-021.65) Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority

Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority | April 1st, 2018

The Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority (SCGA) has prepared an Annual Report describing groundwater conditions in the South American Subbasin for the 2017

The Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority (SCGA) has prepared an Annual Report describing groundwater conditions in the South American Subbasin for the 2017 Water Year (i.e., inclusive of months October 2016 to September 2017) in support of their pending Alternative Submittal. The Annual Report is intended for conveying monitoring and water use data to the State DWR on an annual basis to gauge performance of the groundwater subbasin relative to the sustainability goal set forth in a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) or, for SCGA, the Alternative Submittal. As such, SCGA is including sufficient information to provide interested parties with sufficient background and supporting details to serve as a public communications document for subbasin management and to take the place of historic biennial reporting available on the SCGA website.

2018 Bay Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) Multi-Year Plan

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | January 6th, 2018

2018 Quality Assurance Program Plan for the Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | August 15th, 2018

The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) was created to provide long-term monitoring information on ecosystem health in the Bay. The i

The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) was created to provide long-term monitoring information on ecosystem health in the Bay. The impetus for the program development was a resolution by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board to require dischargers in the Bay Area regulated under the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program to participate in regional monitoring. Contribution to the Program constitutes compliance with the requirement to participate. Elimination of certain permit requirements for individual permits offset the requirement for continued participation. The RMP began as a pilot study in 1989 and has been collecting water, sediment, and biological tissue data since 1993. 

2020 Water Resilience Portfolio (draft)

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | January 2nd, 2020

2021 Drinking Water Needs Assessment

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | April 9th, 2021

In 2016, the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) adopted a Human Right to Water Resolution making the Human Right to Water (HR2W), as defin

In 2016, the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) adopted a Human Right to Water Resolution making the Human Right to Water (HR2W), as defined in Assembly Bill 685, a primary consideration and priority across all of the state and regional boards’ programs. The HR2W recognizes that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking and sanitary purposes.”  In 2019, to advance the goals of the HR2W, California passed Senate Bill 200 (SB 200), which enabled the State Water Board to establish the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) Program. SB 200 established a set of tools, funding sources, and regulatory authorities that the State Water Board harnesses through the SAFER Program to help struggling water systems sustainably and affordably provide safe drinking water.  The annual Drinking Water Needs Assessment (Needs Assessment) required to be carried out by the SAFER Program provides foundational information and recommendations to guide this work. The Needs Assessment is comprised of Risk Assessment, Affordability Assessment, and Cost Assessment components. Development of the Needs Assessment consisted of stages between September 2019 and March 2021, each of which were detailed in publicly-available white papers and presented at public webinars. The public feedback was incorporated into the final methodology and results. 

2022 Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment Summary Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | November 22nd, 2022

This summary report contains projected water shortage information at the urban water supplier level as well as regional and statewide analyses of water supply conditions

This summary report contains projected water shortage information at the urban water supplier level as well as regional and statewide analyses of water supply conditions and is intended to inform the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board). Additionally, the report includes information on water shortage response actions taken by urban water suppliers as a result of their Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessments (Annual Assessments), and urban water suppliers’ compliance statistics with respect to their Annual Water Shortage Assessment Report (Annual Shortage Report) submittals. The purpose of this Annual Water Supply and Demand Assessment Summary Report (Summary Report) is to fulfill the California Water Code (CWC) §10644(c)(1)(B) requirements and it is due on or before September 30, 2022, and every year thereafter. The full text of the CWC section regarding the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) Summary Report to the State Water Board is presented below for reference.

2022 Drought Plan Klamath Project, Oregon-California Interior Region 10, California-Great Basin

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | April 29th, 2022

The Klamath Project (Project) delivers water for irrigation purposes to up to approximately 230,000 acres in southern Oregon and northern California when water is availab

The Klamath Project (Project) delivers water for irrigation purposes to up to approximately 230,000 acres in southern Oregon and northern California when water is available. The Project relies upon several primary water sources to meet irrigation demands including water from Upper Klamath Lake (UKL), Clear Lake Reservoir, and Gerber Reservoir, and from the Klamath and Lost rivers. The Project’s water supplies (Project Supply or Supplies) have been impacted by the severe drought conditions currently affecting the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California. This 2022 Drought Plan describes the background for and the process of allocating the available Project Supply during the 2022 spring/summer irrigation season (April 15 through September 30, 20222), consistent with the contract priorities that exist within the Project.