Evaluating Collaborative Institutions in Context: The Case of Regional Water Management in Southern California

Sage Journals | January 1st, 2014

Regional collaborative institutions are seen as tools for improving collaboration and for reducing the inefficiency of fragmented management and planning. However, recent

Regional collaborative institutions are seen as tools for improving collaboration and for reducing the inefficiency of fragmented management and planning. However, recent research has shown that the ability of new regional institutions to achieve these aims is contingent upon their relationship to the existing institutional landscape. This paper uses network analyses of six newly created Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) subregions in southern California to examine how their introduction intersects existing water management systems and whether the patterns of interaction in water planning have changed as a result. The results further our understanding of collaborative governance and regionalism by showing that the ability of regional institutions to facilitate new interactions can vary widely across a given institutional landscape. Further, while IRWM has helped to strengthen the water management network in southern California, it has not replaced existing watershed planning efforts. Interviews with water managers reveal there is support for IRWM but it is still too early to evaluate its effectiveness. Further research should explore the drivers and consequences of heterogeneity in IRWM and whether the incentives for participation are sufficient.

Final Mojave Region Integrated Regional Water Management Plan

Mojave Water Agency (MWA) | June 1st, 2014

Fragmented Flows: Water Supply in Los Angeles County

Environmental Management (Springer) | May 12th, 2016

In the Los Angeles metropolitan region, nearly 100 public and private entities are formally involved in the management and distribution of potable water—a legacy rooted

In the Los Angeles metropolitan region, nearly 100 public and private entities are formally involved in the management and distribution of potable water—a legacy rooted in fragmented urban growth in the area and late 19th century convictions about local control of services. Yet, while policy debates focus on new forms of infrastructure, restructured pricing mechanisms, and other technical fixes, the complex institutional architecture of the present system has received little attention. In this paper, we trace the development of this system, describe its interconnections and disjunctures, and demonstrate the invisibility of water infrastructure in LA in multiple ways—through mapping, statistical analysis, and historical texts. Perverse blessings of past water abundance led to a complex, but less than resilient, system with users accustomed to cheap, easily accessible water. We describe the lack of transparency and accountability in the current system, as well as its shortcomings in building needed new infrastructure and instituting new water rate structures. Adapting to increasing water scarcity and likely droughts must include addressing the architecture of water management.

From wastewater treatment plants to decentralized resource factories

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | June 10th, 2024

Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | March 20th, 2008

This handbook provides information on developing and implementing watershed management plans that help to restore and protect water quality. A watershed is the area of la

This handbook provides information on developing and implementing watershed management plans that help to restore and protect water quality. A watershed is the area of land that contributes runoff to a lake, river, stream, wetland, estuary, or bay. A watershed management plan defines and addresses existing or future water quality problems from both point sources and nonpoint sources of pollutants. Experience over the past decade has shown that effective watershed management includes active participation from stakeholders, analysis and quantification of the specific causes and sources of water quality problems, identification of measurable water quality goals, and implementation of specific actions needed to  solve those problems. This handbook is intended to serve as the basis for developing and implementing watershed plans to meet water quality standards and protect water resources. Although watershed plans are useful for all watersheds to protect and restore water resources, as well as to meet other community resource goals, they are critical for impaired or threatened waterbodies. The most recent national water quality assessment reported that 40 to 50 percent of the nation’s assessed waterbodies are impaired or threatened. 3/20This handbook is designed to provide a framework to help you develop a scientifically defensible plan that will lead to measurable results and an overall improvement in the water quality and watershed conditions that are important to your community.

Integrated Regional Water Management: Stakeholder Perspectives

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 18th, 2017

Integrated regional water management (IRWM) is the application of integrated water management principles at the regional level. IRWM brings local agencies and other stake

Integrated regional water management (IRWM) is the application of integrated water management principles at the regional level. IRWM brings local agencies and other stakeholders, with a range of water-related roles and interests, together to address water management needs collaboratively within self-identified regions accepted by the State. The practice of IRWM is rooted in the principle of regional control, recognizing that local and regional water managers and other stakeholders, working together in a collaborative, open, and transparent manner, are best suited and best positioned to manage water resources in their regions. Issues including limited groundwater and surface water supplies, drought, flooding, climate change, water quality, environmental degradation, aging infrastructure, economic constraints, recreation, and cultural considerations are addressed through coordinated and integrated actions. IRWM is helping California move away from a legacy of fragmented, divisive, conflict prone, and sometimes ineffective water management practices by supporting cooperation among agencies and other stakeholders. Integrated water management at the regional level: Helps provide for public safety. Supports a healthy economy. Supports ecosystem vitality. IRWM benefits accrue at the local and regional level, but also “roll up” to the state level, helping California meet its collective water management needs. When IRWM succeeds, California succeeds.  

Integrated Water Management at the Peri-Urban Interface: A Case Study of Monterey, California

Water, Multidisciplinary Publishing Institute (MDPI) | December 21st, 2020

Climate change, drought, and chronic overdraft represent growing threats to the sustainability of water supplies in dry environments. The Monterey/Salinas region in Cali

Climate change, drought, and chronic overdraft represent growing threats to the sustainability of water supplies in dry environments. The Monterey/Salinas region in California exemplifies a new era of integrated or “one water” management that is using all of the water it can get to achieve more sustainable supplies to benefit cities, agriculture, and the environment. This program is the first of its kind to reuse a variety of waters including wastewater, stormwater, food industry processing water, and agricultural drainage water. This study investigates the partnerships, projects, and innovations that shape Monterey’s integrated water network in order to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing California communities as they seek to sustainably manage peri-urban water supplies.Water reuse in the Monterey region produces substantial economic and environmental benefits, from tourism and irrigation of high-value crops to protection of groundwater and increases in environmental flows and water quality.Water resource managers in other communities can learn fromMonterey’s success leveraging local needs and regional partnerships to develop effective integrated water solutions. However, key challenges remain in resolving mismatched timing between water availability and demand, funding alternative water supplies, and planning effectively under uncertainty. Opportunities exist to increase Monterey’s recycled water supply by up to 50%, but this requires investment in seasonal storage and depends on whether desalination or additional recycling forms the next chapter in the region’s water supply story. Regulatory guidance is needed on seasonal subsurface storage of tertiary-treated recycled water as distinct from potable recharge. By increasing the supply of recycled water to Monterey’s indirect potable use system, the region’s potential need for seawater desalination may be delayed as much as 30 years, resulting in cost and energy savings, and giving the opportunity to resolve present planning concerns.

Integrated Water Resources Plan 2015 Update

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

In California water, uncertainty comes with the territory. Being unprepared for tomorrow, however, is simply not an option. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern C

In California water, uncertainty comes with the territory. Being unprepared for tomorrow, however, is simply not an option. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California prepares for tomorrow with an evolving long-term water strategy known as its Integrated Water Resources Plan, or IRP. The inaugural IRP was adopted in 1996, with updates in 2004 and 2010. The 2015 IRP Update continues the tradition of assessing and adapting to changing conditions facing Southern California. The fundamental goal of the IRP is for Southern California to have as reliable a water system for tomorrow as the region has enjoyed for decades, regardless of the challenges that emerge along the way. Metropolitan plans to meet this goal through an adaptive management strategy that is the cornerstone of the 2015 IRP Update. Metropolitan was authorized by the California Legislature in 1928 to advance a regional approach to water supply in Southern California. Metropolitan’s initial mission was to construct the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct to its service area on the Southern California coastal plain. Metropolitan’s service area had an assessed property valuation of approximately $2 billion at the time. Now Metropolitan serves a six-county service area with a property valuation of approximately $2 trillion. Metropolitan imports supplies from both the Colorado River and Northern California via the State Water Project while investing in a variety of storage, local supply and conservation initiatives. Metropolitan has a long record of promoting alternatives to imported water supplies, dating back to the 1980s. With the IRP, that process became more formalized as a long-term strategy and official policy. Metropolitan has steadily diversified the future water portfolio for Southern California with each revision to the IRP. This update is no exception. Investments to maintain the reliability of imported supplies are complemented by an expansion of local supply development along with a reduction in demand through a variety of conservation and water-use efficiency initiatives. The necessary suite of actions evolves over time based on the water conditions of tomorrow. Updating the IRP creates a new baseline for managing into the future.

LA Sustainable Water Project: Los Angeles City-Wide Overview

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | February 1st, 2018

This report assesses the potential to improve water quality standards while integrating complementary One Water Management practices that can increase potential local wat

This report assesses the potential to improve water quality standards while integrating complementary One Water Management practices that can increase potential local water supplies for the City of Los Angeles (the City).  This final report summarizes the current practices and future opportunities at the City-owned Water Reclamation Plants and underlying groundwater basins and highlights the importance of considering all aspects of integrated water management even when dealing with water quality or supply-focused projects. Implementing watershed-scale best management practice programs to meet stormwater permit requirements will significantly improve water quality in all watersheds.  However, additional mechanisms such as increasing Low Impact Development implementation and comprehensive source tracking and source control mechanisms will be required to potentially eliminate water quality exceedances.  There are multiple efforts occurring in the City and the region to increase the recharge of recycled water into the ground and the volumes of remediated groundwater extracted. This research further assessed the impacts of potential water supply portfolios, with greater volumes of locally-supplied water, on GHG emissions and energy needs of supplying LA’s water.  Conservation will be another powerful tool to decrease our dependence on imported water.  This research demonstrates the complex interrelationships between all aspects of urban water management, including, for example, stormwater management and local water supply.

Lessons from California’s 2012–2016 Drought

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) | October 1st, 2018

California’s 5-year drought has ended, even as its aftermath lingers. From 2012–2016 much or all of California was under severe drought conditions, with gre

California’s 5-year drought has ended, even as its aftermath lingers. From 2012–2016 much or all of California was under severe drought conditions, with greatly diminished precipitation, snowpack, and streamflow and higher temperatures. Water shortages to forests, aquatic ecosystems, hydroelectric power plants, rural drinking water supplies, agriculture, and cities caused billions of dollars in economic losses, killed millions of forest trees, brought several fish species closer to extinction, and caused inconvenience and some expense to millions of households and businesses. The drought also brought innovations and improvements in water management, some of which will better prepare California for future droughts. This paper summarizes the magnitude and impacts of the 2012–2016 California drought. The paper then reviews innovations arising from the drought in the larger historical context of water management in California. Lessons for California and for modern drought management are then discussed. Droughts in modern, well-managed water systems serving globalized economies need not be economically catastrophic, but will always have impacts and challenges, particularly for native ecosystems. In California and every other water system, droughts usefully expose weaknesses and inadequate preparation in water management. In this regard for California, managers of ecosystems and small rural water supplies had the most to learn.