WEBINAR: Collaborating Across IRWM and SGMA – Groundwater Recharge

This webinar featured a panel discussion to explore opportunities for collaboration on groundwater recharge across the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and the Integrated Regional Water Management Program (IRWM).  The panel was moderated by Kamyar Guivetchi, manager of DWR’s Division of Planning, and explore how we can leverage IRWMs and Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) to efficiently develop, fund, implement, and monitor recharge projects.

Speakers:

• Daniel Mountjoy, Sustainable Conservation: Dr. Mountjoy leads Sustainable Conservation’s Water for the Future program to support groundwater sustainability through collaboration with farmers, researchers, and agencies. He directs work on field testing and monitoring groundwater recharge on active farmland, developing groundwater recharge decision-support tools for farmers and water management agencies, and informing policy decisions to ensure that the business, community, and environmental aspects of water reliability are considered. He also is collaborating with other NGOs, resource conservation districts, and agencies on development of incentive strategies to reward land managers for contributing to groundwater sustainability through recharge and/or irrigation efficiency improvements.
• Rob Swartz, Regional Water Authority: Rob Swartz is Manager of Technical Services with the Regional Water Authority and Sacramento Groundwater Authority. Rob’s responsibilities include managing the American River Basin Integrated Regional Water Management Plan and the SGA Groundwater Management Program. Prior to joining the Authorities in 2003, Rob was with the California Department of Water Resources where he co-authored the 2003 update to California’s Groundwater – Bulletin 118. Rob is a Professional Geologist and Certified Hydrogeologist in California.
• Mike Brinton, Stanislaus County Public Works: Michael Brinton currently works part time for Stanislaus County. He is the Road Side Drainage and Storm Water Program Engineer. Michael retired from the City of Manteca and later from the City of Ceres as the Public Works Director.

Moderator:

• Kamyar Guitvetchi, manager of DWR’s Division of Planning: Kamyar Guivetchi has been the manager of the Division of Planning at the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) since 2008. During his 43 years with DWR, Kamyar worked on technical studies, project planning, and environmental stewardship. From 2000 Kamyar managed staff work and led collaboration of numerous government agencies, Native American Tribes, stakeholders, and public to prepare the California Water Plan Updates 2005, 2009, 2013, 2018, and now 2023.

Resources

Speaker presentations

• Power point: Kamyar Guivetchi, Rob Swartz, Michael Brinton: https://ygx.b0d.mwp.accessdomain.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IRWM-SGMA-GW-Recharge-PPT.pdf” title=”IRWM-SGMA GW Recharge PPT
• Power point: Daniel Mountjoy, Sustainable Conservation: https://ygx.b0d.mwp.accessdomain.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021.06.21-Mountjoy-IRWM-SGMA-Webinar-.pdf

Groundwater exchange

• View groundwater recharge resources at: https://groundwaterexchange.org/groundwater-recharge/
• Recordings of previous IRWM-SGMA webinars: https://groundwaterexchange.org/video-gallery/irwm/
• Sign up for newsletter: https://groundwaterexchange.org/subscribe/

Groundwater Recharge

• DWR’s Flood-MAR webpage: https://water.ca.gov/Programs/All-Programs/Flood-MAR
• 2019 Flood-MAR Forum Summary: https://cadwr.box.com/s/o01750nnpsp5fzm09c28zsj2abymjfpe
• Find out more about Sustainable Conservation’s recharge work at: https://suscon.org/technical-resources/
• Sustainable Conservation’s Groundwater Recharge Assessment Tool (GRAT): GRAT webpage: http://groundwaterrecharge.org/
• Groundwater Recharge water rights permitting: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/applications/groundwater_recharge/
• PPIC report on groundwater recharge: https://www.ppic.org/blog/whats-the-plan-to-end-groundwater-overdraft-in-the-san-joaquin-valley/

Integrated regional water management (IRWM)

• DWR’s webpage for Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM): https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Integrated-Regional-Water-Management
• For information on IRWM groups operating across the state, visit the Roundtable of IRWM Regions website: http://www.RoundtableofRegions.org
• More on IRWM Grant Program here: https://water.ca.gov/Work-With-Us/Grants-And-Loans/IRWM-Grant-Programs
• More on  the IRWM Disadvantaged Community and Tribal Program here: https://water.ca.gov/Work-With-Us/Grants-And-Loans/IRWM-Grant-Programs/Proposition-1/DAC-Involvement-Program (Note: This page has the Disadvantaged Community and Tribal Involvement contact information for each IRWM region as a downloadable spreadsheet.)
• Local Government Commission, DWR, and the IRWM Roundtable of Regions hosted a virtual summit about lessons learned from the IRWM DAC and Tribal involvement program – you can find recordings and resources here: https://www.lgc.org/summit/
• Recordings of previous IRWM-SGMA webinars: https://groundwaterexchange.org/video-gallery/irwm/

Other Grant opportunities

• DWR Grants – www.water.ca.gov/work-with-us/grants-and-loans 
• State Library Grants Portal – www.grants.ca.gov
• SWRCB Grants – www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/grants_loans

Other useful webpages

• DWR Sustainable Groundwater Program —https://water.ca.gov/Work-With-Us/Grants-And-Loans/Sustainable-Groundwater
• California Water Plan Update 2018 webpage —https://water.ca.gov/Programs/California-Water-Plan
• CA Water Plan eNews Subscription link –https://listservice.cnra.ca.gov/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=DWR_CWP_ENEWS&A=1
• Find out more about the Water Resilience Portfolio: https://waterresilience.ca.gov/

Webinars, upcoming and past

• Information and registration for upcoming 2020 GSP Review webinars, June 28, July 12: https://ygx.b0d.mwp.accessdomain.com/2021/06/02/free-webinar-series-2022-gsp-educational-webinars-managing-californias-groundwater-series/
• Recordings of previous IRWM-SGMA webinars: https://groundwaterexchange.org/video-gallery/irwm/
• Previous webinars from Maven’s Notebook are here: https://ygx.b0d.mwp.accessdomain.com/category/webinars/

For more on Maven’s Notebook:

• To visit Maven’s Notebook, your comprehensive water news website, go here:  https://www.MavensNotebook.com
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And lastly …

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