DWR planning manager addresses CWA on water plan update

The manager of statewide water planning for the state Department of Water Resources addressed the San Diego County Water Authority March 24 to discuss the update of the California Water Plan.

Kaymar Guivetchi spoke on the 2005 update to the state water plan first published in 1957 and last updated in 1998. A public review draft of the updated plan will be available in April, and DWR will hold public hearings in June.

“The California Water Plan for 2005 really will be different,” said County Water Authority general manager Maureen Stapleton. “It really is looking at a variety of additional components to the plan which I think will be helpful.”

CWA staff members have been involved in a public advisory committee which has provided input on the water plan update. In addition to establishing the 65-member advisory committee and a 350-person extended review forum, the Department of Water Resources is seeking input from 2,000 other interested members of the public.

“The public process has been a huge part of this update,” Guivetchi said.

DWR is in the process of finalizing a “highlight document”, or executive summary. “We really want this water plan to be a framework for California water policy,” Guivetchi said. “This water plan in our mind provides a framework for action for the next quarter-century.”

The water plan itself does not mandate any actions, nor does it authorize or appropriate any funding. While the disadvantage of not being linked to legal policy is that state legislative action or the initiative process will be required to implement the plan, an advantage of the lack of legal ties is increased flexibility. “As such we can actually do some out-of-the-box thinking with our stakeholders,” Guivetchi said.

That may increase the change of legislative approval, since the governor will need the confidence of stakeholders in order to support the plan.

The water plan will include sections on each of the ten hydrologic regions of the state, and when CWA staff reviews the draft public document for formal comments the region of focus will be the South Coast Region along with the specific sections on local supplies, transfers, and imported supplies.

Features of the new plan not included in the original plan or the previous seven updates include water portfolios over recent years and throughout hydrologic cycles, regional reports, multiple future scenarios to plan for uncertainties and risks, and 25 resource management strategies. The 2005 update will also place more of an emphasis on water quality than has been the case with past plans.

The framework for action includes three foundational actions for sustainability: using water efficiently, protecting water quality, and supporting environmental stewardship. The framework contains two initiatives for reliability: implementation of integrated regional water management and improving statewide water management systems. The framework’s vision statement includes balancing a vital economy and a high standard of living with a healthy environment. The framework is intended to focus and prioritize the state’s water planning, oversight, technical assistance, and financial assistance on the foundational actions and initiatives.

The framework also identifies support activities such as reforming state government, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and developing funding strategies to assist local agencies and governments meet the needs. Support activities also include investment in new water technologies, adapting for global climate change impacts, improving water data management and analysis, increasing scientific understanding, and making decisions which are equitable across all communities.

“The reality is if we do not do these essential support activities, we’re not going to be successful,” Guivetchi said.

Guivetchi stressed an integrated but regionally-based plan. “The planning is best done at the regional level,” he said. “We need to foster better partnerships to develop those integrated plans.”

The plan also includes 14 broad recommendations involving investment in supply and management, incentive assistance to prepare plans, management strategies for contaminants, infrastructure rehabilitation, the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, state leadership for activities beyond the scope of a single region, articulation of the respective roles and responsibilities for each level of government, strategies defining the role of public investments, investment in technology, preparation for the effects of global climate change, analysis tools for regional integrated resource plans, public trust values for planning and allocation of water resources, tribal government participation, and participation of representatives from disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations.

“The California Water Plan is an important document to the Authority,” said Fallbrook Public Utility District general manager Keith Lewinger, who is also FPUD’s representative on the CWA board and served as acting chairman of the CWA’s Water Planning Committee during the DWR presentation.

“It will affect all of us in the future,” Lewinger said. “It’s important for us as the Authority to be part of this process.”