ADVOCACY REPORT
Water Strategy Requires Improved Planning to Achieve Resilience. What are the priorities ?
Department of Water Resources (DWR) Task Force In March, I was selected to participate in the Department of Water Resources (DWR) Drought Resiliency Interagency & Partners (DRIP) Collaborative, which is a newly formed 26-member task force to proactively plan for future drought events, such as mitigation, emergencies, and response. With swings between severe weather patterns becoming more intense, the DWR-led task force comprises 18 members from the private sector, and I am participating as an agricultural representative. I am thankful DWR made room for agriculture on this important committee. We are often the first to experience pressure from extreme weather events — whether it be the ruthless flooding many are facing right now or devastating drought. I am pleased we have this opportunity to be proactive and plan for future events, as opposed to continually reacting to disasters. State agency representatives also serve on DRIP, including the California Natural Resources Agency, State Water Resources Control Board, California Department of Food and Agriculture and Department of Fish and Wildlife, as well as officials from other areas within state government. The first meeting of the DRIP Collaborative was held in April. Ag Council educated the committee on the impacts of extreme weather events on the agricultural community and advocated for water storage projects, additional infrastructure and improved regulations to allow for increased groundwater recharge projects. I am pleased the group developed its initial list of priorities, and we share many of the same goals. Among the list of priorities, projects that took precedence within the group include investing in new surface water storage infrastructure, removing barriers to groundwater recharge projects, beneficial land use opportunities in
rural communities, analysis of hydro/power grid vulnerabilities and better coordination between local, state and federal governments. Given the diversity of the DRIP Collaborative, the initial list of priorities gives me great hope that we will be able to find common ground in prioritizing our local communities and better planning for drought and all extreme weather events.
Potential Water & Climate Bond for the 2024 Ballot
California continues to experience boom and bust water years with many in agriculture suffering in times of drought and flood. As we seek to secure a stable, reliable water supply, better planning to anticipate weather extremes is not only necessary, it is vital to our survival. Ag Council supports what California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot calls an “all of the above” approach to water planning, which encompasses groundwater recharge, surface storage, water conveyance, water recycling, desalination, flood protection, regional and climate resilience, ecosystem enhancement and much more. Taking action in these categories is needed not only to improve water supply capacity, but to ensure all water users win in the end through better water quality, flood and drought protection, environmental sustainability and additional benefits. To achieve those goals, Governor Newsom is expressing support for a potential climate and water bond for the 2024 ballot, and legislators are negotiating to proceed accordingly. Ag Council is cognizant of the trepidation of a climate and water bond within the agricultural community given the provisions in the 2014 water bond (Prop 1) created a
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ALMOND FACTS
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