UWCD Hosts Water Sustainability Summit

• by United Water Conservation District
• Apr 7, 2022

Faced with challenges of overdraft, seawater intrusion and prolonged droughts, augmented by little action toward resolution of these issues, United Water Conservation District’s (UWCD) Board of Directors challenged staff to be bold and creative in developing projects that create “new water” resources and/or greater efficiencies to ensure regional water sustainability and avoid drastic cuts in water allocations, fallowing valuable farmland, and dramatic increases in water rates.

As a result, UWCD General Manager Mauricio Guardado reached out to General Managers of neighboring water agencies, inviting them to participate in an event that was envisioned to engage elected officials, regulatory agencies, municipalities, water districts, the farming community, developers, businesses, and stakeholders from throughout Ventura County while also securing a unified commitment to resolve water sustainability challenges.

The resulting projects were analyzed, researched and, in February 2020, introduced to 150 participants at the inaugural Water Sustainability Summit. Held at the District’s new headquarters in Oxnard, UWCD staff and communications firm CV Strategies collaborated on public outreach and promotion. CV Strategies designed eInvites, postcards, and templates for project presentations and provided video coverage of the event for about $20,000. Offsetting that cost, District staff secured sponsorships from consultants and others interested in being associated with the event. Staff also handled advance and on-site registration, audio-visual and photography, bringing the five-hour event to fruition for a net zero investment!

The unprecedented event attracted CA Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia’s Chief Consultant for Water Parks and Wildlife Catherine Freeman, Ventura County Supervisor Kelly Long, and representatives for CA Senator Hanna Beth Jackson, Assemblymember Monique Limon, U.S. Congresswoman Julian Brownley and the Cities of Oxnard, Santa Paula, Fillmore and Camarillo. Regulatory agencies included State Water Resources Control Board’s Dee Dee D’Adamo and Department of Water Resources Guy Nguyen. Lynn Rodriguez of Ventura County’s Watershed Coalition and Glenn Shephard, Director of Ventura County’s Watershed Protection District, served as moderators for two panel discussions.

Also in the room, Calleguas Municipal Water District, Camrosa Water District, Casitas Municipal Water District, Pleasant Valley County Water District, Ventura Water, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Fillmore and Piru Basins GSA, Mound Basin GSA, Fox Canyon GMA, the Cities of Fillmore, Santa Paula, Oxnard, Ventura, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Port Hueneme, and representatives from U.S. Naval Base Ventura, various farming operations and representatives from Coalition of Labor, Business and Agriculture (CoLAB), Ventura Water Commission and Friends of the River.

Participants enjoyed robust discussions detailing the viability of multi-partner projects including “Optimization of State Water Allocations,” “Freeman Diversion Expansion,” “Recycled Water,” and “Brackish Water Treatment.” Participants were also effective in getting elected officials, representatives and regulatory agencies “on the record” in support of the projects and grant opportunities.

Following the event, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Guardado and UWCD staff continued to shepherd projects through development while honing virtual presentations, updating stakeholders, potential partners, elected officials, regulatory agency personnel and others on the projects’ progress.

Progress that included a letter of intent from the U.S. Naval Base Ventura County Commanding Officer Captain Jeffrey Chism, supporting development of the Extraction Barrier and Brackish Groundwater Treatment facility on the Naval Base at Point Mugu. Recognizing the project as a reliable secondary source of water supply while also combatting seawater intrusion, Congresswoman Julia Brownley urged inclusion of the project in various federal grant programs. California Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin was instrumental in UWCD’s Prop 1 Grant award from Department of Water Resources, funding mapping of Point Mugu’s geology, refining the District’s groundwater model, simulating the density of seawater to determine how much water could be realized, and the initial environmental permitting process.

UWCD also garnered public support in advancing the design and permits necessary for the Freeman Diversion expansion project, which will accommodate more turbid water diversions during storm events, boosting basin recharge. Progress on the collaborative “Optimization” projects – purchasing others’ State Water Project contractors Table A allocations and Article 21 water; construction of pipelines to move recycled water to recharge basins when not needed by agricultural users — brings “new” water to the region. “New” water that will be stored at UWCD’s Santa Felicia Dam, released and recharged into groundwater basins, reducing nitrate levels in area wells and providing surface water delivers that reduce groundwater pumping, saving energy and money while holding back seawater intrusion.

Not to be deterred by the pandemic and spurred by growing support for the projects, UWCD developed a hybrid Water Sustainability Summit II event in October, 2021. Limited to 60 socially distanced participants in the UWCD Boardroom, the event also attracted over 100 online participants.

Keynote speaker State Water Resources Control Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel was joined by a virtual who’s who in water, including Congresswoman Brownley’s Legislative Director Sharon Wagener; U.S. Congressman Carbajal’s Water Policy Advisor Wendy Motta; U.S. Senator Feinstein’s Representative Geneva Monteleone; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Frank Blackett; U.S. Naval Base Ventura’s Nathan Jacobsen; CA State Senator Monique Limón; Division of Drinking Water’s Jeff Densmore; Division of Safety of Dams’ Sharon K. Tapia; Oxnard Councilmembers Bert Perello and Vianey Lopez; Ventura City Councilmember Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios; ACWA VP and Orange County Water District Board member Cathy Green; Ventura Water AGM Betsy Cooper; Board members and staff from Palmdale Water District; and City Councilmembers and the City Manager from the City of Tehachapi, among others.

After witnessing the broad support for UWCD’s innovative projects, Palmdale Water District entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with UWCD, collaborating on several regional water sustainability projects. The success of the Water Sustainability Summits has also spurred others to replicate the event, including Kern County who are planning their own Water Summit on May 19, 2022, demonstrating that the UWCD Water Sustainability Summit model is both replicable as well as an affordable method for engaging stakeholders in the actions required to bring all of California to a water sustainable future.