Collaborative Versus Technocratic Policymaking: California’s Statewide Water Plan

California State University, Sacramento, (CSUS) | January 1st, 2008

In 2001, the California Department of Water Resources embarked on one of the most elaborate public involvement processes in state history. Over the course of five years a

In 2001, the California Department of Water Resources embarked on one of the most elaborate public involvement processes in state history. Over the course of five years and 200 meetings, a 65-member Stakeholder Advisory Committee and a 350-member Extended Review Forum worked with agency staff to produce a new water plan for California. The process consumed some 23,000 person-hours in face-to-face discussions alone. Although the state had been updating its water plan approximately every five years since 1957, the 2005 process produced a dramatically different type of document. For one thing, the 2005 Update is conceptually more accurate, complex, nuanced, and comprehensive. The policy recommendations described in its strategic plan address a broader range of issues—including climate change and environmental justice—yet they engendered somewhat less political controversy than the policies identified in the 1998 Update. Moreover, there is evidence that the collaborative process used in 2001-2005 catalyzed improvements in the relationships among California's historically warring water stakeholders, and also sparked the beginnings of positive cultural changes within certain quarters of DWR.This research report authored by Ariel Ambruster catalogues the outcomes of the 2005 Water Plan Update process and those of its predecessor, the 1998 Update.

Community Perspectives on SGMA Implementation

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | June 13th, 2019

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014 represents a historic opportunity to achieve long-term sustainable groundwater management and protect th

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014 represents a historic opportunity to achieve long-term sustainable groundwater management and protect the drinking water supplies of hundreds of small and rural low-income communities that rely on this shared resource, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. Prior research, however, indicates that few of these communities are represented in the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) formed to implement the new law. This raises questions about other forms of community involvement, and concerns about the extent to which small and rural drinking-water interests are being incorporated into the process. This report details the results of twenty-three interviews with thirty-one representatives of small, low-income communities who rely on groundwater for their drinking-water supplies. The findings suggest community stakeholders are highly interested in SGMA and desire to be involved in its implementation, which many deemed indispensable for the future of their communities. Many are actively participating or following the process, including by serving on boards and committees, attending meetings and workshops, and monitoring meeting minutes and agendas. The experience of small and rural communities with SGMA is predictably diverse. Some interviewees have had very positive experiences thus far and are hopeful about the ways SGMA could benefit their communities and regions in the future. Others have felt overlooked or intentionally excluded. Yet many similarities also arose across the interviews including six common challenges and concerns about SGMA implementation: 1. Resource constraints to participation: Lack of staff, small budgets, in-house experts and an inability to pay for outside services/support limited communities’ formal participation in GSA governance and attendance and involvement in SGMA meetings. 2. Accessibility: Additional factors limiting the accessibility of the SGMA process included day-time meetings, language barriers, the proliferation of board and committee meetings, and irregular and unclear meeting schedules and notices. 3. Transparency: A lack of transparency in GSA decision-making as well as limited access to the data and information being used to develop Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) were common concerns for interviewees. 4. Lack of formal representation: The relegation of communities to advisory, rather than decision-making, roles in the SGMA process was also a common concern. 5. Limited opportunities to provide meaningful input and feedback: Whether participating as a decision-maker, committee member or as a member of the public attending meetings, many were frustrated at the lack of opportunities to provide meaningful input into decisions or on draft documents due to short turnaround times, not being provided necessary background or materials, and limited opportunities for public comment and open discussion. 6. Lack of addressing drinking water interests and priorities: Overwhelmingly, interviewees reported that drinking water interests, especially water quality and domestic wells, were not part of their local SGMA conversations, leading many to be skeptical that SGMA would have drinking-water benefits. Best practices detailed by interviewees with particularly positive experiences and suggestions and recommendations from all of the interviewees, however, demonstrate ample opportunities to address these issues and increase the integration of drinking-water stakeholders and interests into sustainable groundwater management. Targeted efforts to reduce barriers to participation, improve communication and transparency, and promote diverse representation could go a long way to ensuring the “consideration” and “active involvement” of this important, historically marginalized, stakeholder group. For example, communities can educate their GSA about drinking-water priorities and the variety of regulations and requirements public water systems must comply with and coordinate with other small and rural communities to elevate and advocate for drinking water needs. GSAs should incorporate available public data into Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) while developing plans to fill data gaps, provide ample time for feedback on staggered and sequential GSP sections and streamline and increase interaction with stakeholders in meetings. State agencies should consider requiring or incentivizing collaborative community projects be included in GSPs, and community representation in GSP development and implementation as well as provide funding to support meaningful community involvement in all phases of SGMA implementation.

Conserving for the common good: Preferences for water conservation policies during a severe drought in Northern California

Water Resources and Economics | December 3rd, 2021

During the 2011–2017 drought in California, water providers used a variety of demand-side management (DSM) policies to successfully reduce water consumption by over 20

During the 2011–2017 drought in California, water providers used a variety of demand-side management (DSM) policies to successfully reduce water consumption by over 20%. Unfortunately, because utilities used numerous conservation policies simultaneously, little is known about support for specific policies—specifically, an untested water budgeting policy wherein utilities gave households an allotment of water and charged higher prices for water used in excess of the budget. California recently legislated mandatory long-term reductions in water usage. It is therefore critical to obtain a better understanding of which policies, including water budgeting, have strongest public support, and to understand how the drought experience changed residents’ water use behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, habits, and personal capabilities surrounding conservation. This work surveyed individuals residing in northern California, the “North State,” during a period of severe drought. We used best-worst scaling to determine households’ preferences for DSM policies; asked households how their water use behaviors changed; and evaluated psychological attitudes toward drought and water conservation. Results show the vast majority of households changed their water use behaviors during the drought. Over two-thirds of respondents never exceeded their water budgets and said they would continue to conserve after the state lifted conservation requirements. Respondents preferred water budgets relative to more familiar DSM policies, a result with implications for forecasting future water demand. Last, our survey finds only minor differences in policy preferences for respondents with different demographics and attitudes toward water use, even for variables (e.g., income) that previous literature has found to have disparate welfare effects across users.

Consumption Change Detection for Urban Planning: Monitoring and Segmenting Water Customers During Drought

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | March 11th, 2020

Demand management is a powerful way for water utilities to address the challenges of population growth and climate change. Although active conservation efforts have been

Demand management is a powerful way for water utilities to address the challenges of population growth and climate change. Although active conservation efforts have been studied extensively, recent evidence suggests households respond to many external events beyond a utility's control, including political responses to extreme climatic episodes and corresponding mass media coverage. Despite their importance, these external factors are difficult to analyze in a controlled setting, and few tools exist to evaluate their influence on customers. Here, we present a consumption change detection (CCD) method that offers new insights into how climate‐related mass media and policy events affect conservation by pinpointing the timing and magnitude of customer‐level water use shifts. We use CCD to monitor and segment the responses of residential water customers to policy and media events in Costa Mesa, California, during the severe 2012–2016 drought. Our results show consumption reductions among 75% of customers. Of these, 80% reduced water use before mandatory restrictions were imposed, coincident with intensifying state policy responses and spikes in media coverage that affected all customer types during 2014. Analysis of standardized drought consumption trajectories indicates that 16% of conserving customers increased consumption in 2015–2016. Conservation and rebound were both more likely among affluent and educated customers, suggesting that CCD can identify engaged and informed water savers who make suitable targets for water‐efficient retrofit incentive schemes. This study demonstrates CCD's potential as a novel demand analysis tool in an interconnected world where external social, political, and climatic stressors can exert an important influence on customer behavior.

Culture Card: A Guide to Build Cultural Awareness of American Indian and Alaska Native

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | April 18th, 2009

The purpose of this guide is to provide basic information for Federal disaster responders and other service providers who may be deployed or otherwise assigned to provide

The purpose of this guide is to provide basic information for Federal disaster responders and other service providers who may be deployed or otherwise assigned to provide or coordinate services in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. This guide is intended to serve as a general briefing to enhance cultural competence while providing services to AI/AN communities. (Cultural competence is defined as the ability to function effectively in the context of cultural differences.) A more specific orientation or training should be provided by a member of the particular AI/AN community. Service providers should use this guide to ensure the following Five Elements of Cultural Competence* are being addressed: 1. Awareness, acceptance and valuing of cultural differences 2. Awareness of one’s own culture and values 3. Understanding the range of dynamics that result from the interaction between people of different cultures 4. Developing cultural knowledge of the particular community served or to access cultural brokers who may have that knowledge 5. Ability to adapt individual interventions, programs, and policies to fit the cultural context of the individual, family, or community

Delta Conveyance Project Scoping Summary Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 16th, 2020

This document is the Scoping Summary Report for the Delta Conveyance Project (project). The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is undertaking an environmental

This document is the Scoping Summary Report for the Delta Conveyance Project (project). The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is undertaking an environmental review process to evaluate impacts of the project as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The proposed project would construct and operate new conveyance facilities in the Delta that would add to the existing State Water Project (SWP) infrastructure. New intake facilities as points of diversion would be located in the north Delta along the Sacramento River between Freeport and the confluence with Sutter Slough. The new conveyance facilities would include a tunnel to convey water from the new intakes to the existing Banks Pumping Plant and potentially the federal Jones Pumping Plant in the south Delta. The project underwent a public scoping period of 93 days from January 15, 2020 to April 17, 2020, where DWR accepted public comments on the scope of issues to be considered in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that will be prepared for the project. Eight scoping meetings were held throughout the state to provide information on the project and gather comments. The scoping period was originally scheduled for a period of 65 days ending on March 20, 2020 but was extended for an additional 28 days in response to stakeholder requests and to accommodate unprecedented circumstances related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. During this period, the public was invited to participate in the earliest phase of the environmental review process and DWR accepted public comments on the proposed project. This Scoping Summary Report provides background on the project, summarizes the environmental review process, describes the purpose of scoping, and discusses specific activities and public outreach efforts undertaken during the public scoping period. It also summarizes comments received during the scoping period and discusses how the scoping comments will be considered during the development of the EIR. Copies of notifications and materials developed during the scoping period are included as appendices to this report, as are copies of all comments received during the scoping process. Supplemental material attached to comment letters is not provided in the appendices but is available upon request. For an index of comments, meeting transcripts and letters, go to the California Department of Water Resources Delta Conveyance page

Delta Conveyance Project: Scoping and CEQA

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | February 10th, 2020

Designing Drought Indicators

American Meteorological Society (AMS) | November 25th, 2019

Drought indicators hold great potential to assist water management. However, drought information products are traditionally designed by scientists with little input from

Drought indicators hold great potential to assist water management. However, drought information products are traditionally designed by scientists with little input from the end users. This has resulted in an inundation of products ill suited to stakeholder needs and requirements, limiting the potential for improving management through the use of these products. In a different field—the field of product design—product designers and strategists have matured methodologies for optimizing the creation of material products, such as shoes and cars, for example, for customers. A multitude of design-centric strategies are employed to determine customer needs and requirements (e.g., lighter shoe, more cushioning, breathable, reflectivity, arch support, width options, color options). These approaches can be extended from material to information or data products. Here, we describe how the methodological approaches within the field of product design can be interdisciplinarily employed to data products for drought indicators, with water managers as end users (i.e., the “customers”). New results for drought data products may be transformative in how drought indices are constructed, communicated, and delivered, with potentially significant improvements for water management.

Detecting community response to water quality violations using bottled water sales

National Academy of Sciences (NAS) | September 30th, 2019

Equity in Stormwater Investments: Measuring Community Engagement and Disadvantaged Community Benefits for Equitable Impact in the Safe Clean Water Program

Publisher not available | August 4th, 2022

The Safe, Clean Water Program (SCWP) reflects the will of the voters of Los Angeles County, who approved Measure W in 2018 by close to 70%. The ballot measure established

The Safe, Clean Water Program (SCWP) reflects the will of the voters of Los Angeles County, who approved Measure W in 2018 by close to 70%. The ballot measure established a perpetual parcel tax “to fund projects and programs to increase stormwater capture and reduce stormwater and urban runoff pollution” in Los Angeles County “to increase water supply, improve water quality, and, where appropriate, provide community enhancements such as the greening of schools, parks, and wetlands, and increased public access to rivers, lakes, and streams.” In an ordinance implementing the Safe Clean Water Program, the county Board of Supervisors included provisions to prioritize equity in implementation and affirmed an intention to address inequity in infrastructure in August 2021. Those provisions gave rise to this report, which provides advice drawn from research and stakeholder engagement to the Los Angeles County Flood Control District (LACFCD) for measuring community engagement and Disadvantaged Community Benefits to better achieve the equitable impact sought by the SCWP. As part of a broader SCWP Metrics and Monitoring Study (MMS) commissioned by the LACFCD, we were charged with conducting research, consulting with stakeholders, and giving advice to the SCWP for metrics to measure community engagement and Disadvantaged Community Benefits.