Goleta Water District Sustainability Plan: Progress Report and Implementation

The Goleta Water District Sustainability Plan was originally adopted by the District in June 2012 to illustrate how sustainability is built into the water service provided to customers.  The plan is updated regularly through annual progress reports, which provide an overview of how District initiatives, activities, and operations produce outcomes that contribute towards economic, environmental, and social benefits, and support sustainable water service delivery.  The presentation will describe the Plan’s methodology and application, procedures for monitoring sustainability project implementation, and examples of successful initiatives that have occurred over the last seven years of extreme drought. The presentation will also highlight the Goleta Water District’s long and extremely successful history in water conservation and the importance of multi-agency collaboration and partnerships.

Speaker

Brooke Welch, Senior Water Resource Analyst, Goleta Water District
Brooke Welch is a Senior Water Resource Analyst for Goleta Water District, one of the largest special districts in Santa Barbara County.  In this capacity, Brooke plans, coordinates and participates in a variety of water resources and supply planning activities. This includes developing and implementing public information programs and public outreach materials; preparing special studies, reports and analyses; preparing complex technical and policy-oriented recommendations and reports for management and the District’s standing committees; and developing grant proposals. Brooke has been instrumental in creating, updating and overseeing the District’s sustainability initiatives.  Brooke is a graduate of UCSB and welcomes the opportunity to share knowledge at her alma mater.

Integrated Water Resilience Planning and Management; Statewide Vision and Local Implementation

The focus of the presentation is on actions and programs being conducted to improve the resilience of water resources in California. As stated in an executive order signed by Governor Newsom in April: “California faces a range of water challenges, from severely depleted groundwater basins to vulnerable infrastructure to unsafe drinking water in many communities to uncertain water supplies for our cities and agriculture. Climate change magnifies the risk.” The Governor’s Water Resilience Portfolio will build on the California Water Action Plan and the California Water Plan. Together these efforts will help re-imagine the future of California’s water resources. At the local level, implementation of the Integrated Regional Water Management Planning Act (2002) has been building local water resilience and self-sufficiency through development and implementation of multi-benefit, integrated projects across a spectrum of needs and interests. The Watersheds Coalition of Ventura County was formed as the regional group dedicated to dissolving silos, collaboration on water management solutions and inclusion of a broad spectrum of stakeholders including water and sanitation agencies, cities, the County, environmental and other non-governmental entities, disadvantaged communities, agricultural organizations, special districts, two naval base operations, state and federal agencies and tribal interests. These presentations will describe how state and local entities are working together through IRWM and the Water Resilience Portfolio to:

  • Prioritize multi-benefit approaches that meet multiple needs at once.
  • Utilize natural infrastructure such as forests and floodplains.
  • Embrace innovation and new technologies.
  • Encourage regional approaches among water users sharing watersheds.
  • Incorporate successful approaches from other parts of the world.
  • Integrate investments, policies and programs across state government.
  • Strengthen partnerships with local, federal and tribal governments, water agencies and irrigation districts, and other stakeholders.

Speakers

Lynn Rodriguez, Manager, Watersheds Coalition of Ventura County
Lynn Rodriguez has been a water resource management professional since 1981, focusing on water use efficiency, urban water management and Integrated Regional Water Management in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.  She currently manages the Watersheds Coalition of Ventura County (WCVC) Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Program. In collaboration with stakeholders in the region, she prepares and oversees IRWM plan development and implementation and manages the ongoing stakeholder engagement process. She serves as co-chair of the statewide IRWM Roundtable of Regions and the LA-Ventura Area Disadvantaged Community Involvement Task Force. She has served on numerous local, statewide and national water management-related committees and is a graduate of the UCSB Environmental Studies program (79). She is passionate about water issues and spending time exploring the outdoors.

Kamyar Guivetchi, Manager, Division of Planning, California Department of Water Resources
Kamyar Guivetchi was appointed a division manager at the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in 2008. During his 41 years with DWR, Kamyar has worked on technical studies and planning projects with Statewide Integrated Water Management, North-Central Region Office, Division of Planning, Bay-Delta Office, and Division of Environmental Services managing the Suisun Marsh Program. For the past 19 years, Kamyar managed staff work and coordinated the collaboration of numerous government agencies, Native American Tribes, stakeholders, and public to prepare the California Water Plan Updates 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2018. He chairs the 30-member State Agency Steering Committee and is the State Co-chair of the California Biodiversity Council’s Executive Committee. Kamyar has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering; completed post graduate work in Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis; and is a California-registered Civil Engineer.