21st Century Water Infrastructure Jun 7, 2017 Policy Documents In July 2017, ACWA released a briefing paper titled “21st Century Water Infrastructure: New Approaches to Create Flexibility and Resiliency.” As California strives to find the most effective strategies for achieving the coequal goals of improving ecosystem health and water supply reliability, local water agencies are putting innovative concepts on the table that could help improve the resiliency of our system. This briefing paper outlines new approaches modeled in a recent technical study and discusses how investments in 21st century water infrastructure could provide tools to bring much-needed resiliency to the system. The technical study’s findings suggest that adding storage assets to the system and operating them in an integrated way would result in significant value, including new water available to meet the coequal goals, protection of existing water supplies and a more resilient water system for both the environment and water users. The first-of-its kind study is intended to spark discussion about a new approach to water storage integration as the California Water Commission conducts its public process to allocate $2.7 billion from Proposition 1 to help fund water storage projects. Download ACWA’s Water Storage Integration Study Download ACWA’s Briefing Paper on 21st Century Water Infrastructure
