Water Resilience Portfolio Efforts
On July 28, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom released a final version of the Water Resilience Portfolio, the Administration’s blueprint for equipping California to cope with more extreme droughts and floods, rising temperatures, declining fish populations, over-reliance on groundwater and other challenges.
Gov. Gavin Newsom in August 2022 released a new water supply strategy the Newsom Administration is taking to adapt to hotter and drier conditions caused by climate change.
The 19-page “California’s Water Supply Strategy, Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future” focuses on increasing and diversifying the state’s water supply as part of the Administration’s more focused approach to address water shortages and modernize California’s water systems.
The goals and actions of the document are divided into four main categories as outlined below.
1. Develop new water supplies
- Reuse at least 800,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030 and 1.8 million acre-feet by 2040.
- Expand brackish groundwater desalination production by 28,000 acre-feet per year by 2030 and 84,000 acre-feet per year by 2040.
2. Expand water shortage capacity above and below ground by four million acre-feet
- Expand average annual groundwater recharge by at least 500,000 acre-feet.
- Work to complete the seven Proposition 1-supported storage projects and consider funding other viable surface storage projects.
- Expand San Luis Reservoir by 135,000 acre-feet.
- Rehabilitate dams to regain storage capacity.
- Support local stormwater capture projects in cities and towns with the goal to increase annual supply capacity by at least 250,000 acre-feet by 2030 and 500,000 acre-feet by 2040.
3. Reduce demand
- Build on conservation efforts to reduce annual water demand in towns and cities by at least a million acre-feet by 2030.
- Help stabilize groundwater supplies.
4. Improve forecasting, data and management including water rights modernization
- Improve flexibility of current water systems to move water throughout the state.
- Modernize water rights administration for equity, access, flexibility and transparency.
ACWA staff is reviewing the document and will work with members to support local approaches and address policy issues in the state’s implementation of the strategy. Staff will provide input to the Administration as these actions are implemented.
ACWA Resources
Association of California Water Agencies’ Comments regarding the Draft Water
Resilience Portfolio – Feb. 7, 2020
ACWA Recommendations to the Newsom Administration for the Water Resilience Portfolio – Sept. 9, 2019
Communications Advisory: ACWA Engaged with State’s Water Resilience Portfolio Effort – July 1, 2019
Working Group
ACWA created a 28-member Water Resilience Portfolio Working Group comprised of subject matter experts and water industry leaders from within all 10 ACWA Regions. The Working Group helped guide the work of ACWA staff in developing recommendations for the Portfolio.
Leadership
Chair – Steve Lamar, ACWA Vice President
Vice Chair – Scott Petersen, San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Agency
Policy Leads
| Topic | Name | Role in ACWA/Agency | Region |
| Agriculture | Michelle Reimers | Turlock Irrigation District | 4 |
| Jason Phillips | Friant Water Authority | 7 | |
| Climate Change | Steve LaMar | ACWA Vice President | 10 |
| Marlaigne Dumaine | East Bay MUD | 5 | |
| Delta Conveyance | Roger Patterson | MWD of So. Cal. | 8 |
| Jim Peifer | Vice Chair, Fed. Affairs Comm. | 4 | |
| Ecosystems | Grant Davis | Sonoma Water Agency | 1 |
| Lewis Bair | Reclamation Dist. 108 | 2 | |
| Flood Management | Curt Aikens | Yuba Water Agency | 2 |
| Antonio Alfaro | Santa Clara Valley WD | 5 | |
| Funding | Brian Poulsen | Chair, State Leg. Comm. | 3 |
| Groundwater | John Woodling | Chair, Groundwater Comm. | 4 |
| Eric Averett | Vice Chair, Groudwater Comm. | 7 | |
| Deanna Jackson | Tri-County Water Authority | 6 | |
| Headwaters | Willie Whittlesey | Chair, Headwaters Work Group | 2 |
| Infrastructure | Patrick O’Dowd | Chair, Fed. Affairs Comm. | 9 |
| Scott Petersen | San Luis Delta-Mendota W.A. | 6 | |
| Water Reuse | Paul Jones | Eastern MWD | 9 |
| Regional Self Reliance | Larry McKenney | Co-Chair, IRWM Subcommittee | 10 |
| Lance Eckhart | Co-Chair, IRWM Subcommittee | 9 | |
| Safe Drinking Water | Larry McKenney | Chair, DAC Task Force | 10 |
| Steve Bigley | Vice Chair, Water Quality Comm. | 9 | |
| Brad Coffey | MWD of So. Cal. | 8 | |
| Storage | Ted Trimble | Vice Chair, Water Mgmt. Comm. | 2 |
| Jerry Brown | Contra Costa Water District | 5 | |
| Voluntary Agreements | Curt Aikens | Yuba Water Agency | 2 |
| Michelle Reimers | Turlock Irrigation District | 4 | |
| Water Supply | Paul Shoenberger | Chair, Water Mgmt. Comm. | 10 |
| Jennifer Burke | City of Santa Rosa | 1 | |
| Water Use Efficiency | Elizabeth Lovsted | San Diego County W.A. | 10 |
| Debbie Liebersbach | Turlock Irrigation District | 4 |
Background
Governor Gavin Newsom on April 29 signed an executive order directing the secretaries of the California Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Food and Agriculture to identify and assess a suite of complementary actions to ensure safe and resilient water supplies, flood protection and healthy waterways for the state’s communities, economy and environment.
The order seeks to broaden California’s approach on water as the state faces a range of existing challenges, including unsafe drinking water, major flood risks that threaten public safety, severely depleted groundwater aquifers, agricultural communities coping with uncertain water supplies and native fish populations threatened with extinction.
To learn more about the portfolio, please visit the State’s Water Resilience Portfolio website. You may also read the Governor’s Executive Order at the link below.