CALAFCO Staff Workshop April 6, 2017 · 2 Context for GSAs What will these agencies do in the short...

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CALAFCO Staff WorkshopApril 6, 2017

Derrik Williams

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Context for GSAsWhat will these agencies do in the short term?How do they interact with other GSAs/public agencies?What issues will these GSAs consider?How is the public involved?

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Locally Developed Plan to Sustainably Manage Groundwater Aquifers

Describe the groundwater aquiferDefine sustainability and develop measurable management objectivesGroundwater monitoring plan and protocolsConsider County and City general plans(Possibly) a coordination plan

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TechnicalWork

GSA to GSABasin to BasinCoordination

Quantifying Sustainability

Groundwater UsersStakeholder Acceptance

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The future groundwater condition must avoid significant and unreasonable…

Must pass straight face test

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GSAs describe a sustainability goal. A broad statement saying you will remove undesirable results from your basinGSAs and the public define undesirable results. These reflect local concernsSet minimum thresholds. These are the quantification of undesirable resultsSet measurable objectives. These are quantifications of your goals

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DWR’s mandate is assuring sustainability in your basin, not your GSA area

How many GSPs in a subbasinImportance of GSP coordination

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Three GSAs in a single basinAll three must be party to a single coordination agreement

Two GSAs in a different basinsNo coordination agreement required

Coordination agreements are NOT driven by County boundaries

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Have “consistent” dataStore all data in a single databaseAgree to a single water budget for the entire basinAgree to “consistent” definitions of undesirable resultsUnified annual reporting

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Multiple GSPs in a single basin are forced to act somewhat like a single GSPCoordination plans may drive GSP content and approachSome GSAs may be better off developing a single GSP with other, neighboring GSAs rather than developing their own GSPAdds time constraints on GSP development by imposing the need to start coordination conversations early

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Undesirable Result (basinwide)Minimum ThresholdsMeasurable ObjectivesCoordinated data and water budget Coordination agreementsDevelop projects or programs

Water markets?Fallow banksWho benefits and who pays

Know How TheseAreRelated

TechnicalWork

GSA to GSABasin to BasinCoordination

Quantifying Sustainability

Groundwater UsersStakeholder Acceptance

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DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE NEED FOR COORDINATIONUnderstand the SGMA terms, GSP outline, and decision process.Start early (just get started)Identify difficult hurdles, and start discussions earlyGet a good team: Manager; Technical; Legal; FacilitatorInvolve DWR earlyAddress funding early

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Derrik Williams(510) 903-0458 x301Derrik @HydroMetricsWRI.com