INTEGRATED REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN (IRWMP)
LAUNCH PROJECT WORK SESSION
April 9, 2009 from 8:00
am to noon
McCay Hall: Catheys Valley2820 Hwy 140: at the County Park
about 15 minutes west of Mariposa, about 30 minutes east of
Merced,
and about 15 minutes east of the Cunningham Road/ Hwy 140 intersection
What is an IRWMP? An IRWMP is a voluntary, inclusive, stakeholder-driven, non-regulatory planning
effort that identifies broadly supported goals and objectives pertaining to water resources management. The directive is to
get as many stakeholders together as possible within a region to develop a water- and watershed- plan. The region then applies
to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) for funding to support planning and projects within the accepted IRWMP region.
For more background information on IRWMP and the Regional Acceptance Process (RAP) go to www.waterplan.water.ca.gov (the state’s website) and/or www.irwmp.org (the Central California area website). Agenda: The primary purpose of this work session is to continue working on the Regional Acceptance Process
(RAP) packet. All of the items on the agenda are required. Since we need input to complete the RAP application, please give
some thought and be prepared to provide your input.
Note: Madera
County has an existing adopted IRWMP, so the county and its stakeholders are invited to participate in both parallel processes:
1) planning for the larger region including Madera County, and/or 2) implementation to start
projects under the existing IRWMP. This meeting is about the planning process, not about the Madera County
implementation process. Contact Madera County for more information: Leona Montalvo at 559-675-7821 ext. 218.
8:00 AM –
8:30 AM Progress Updates. There will
be many updates due to meetings happening on April 6 and April 7 with the Department of Water Resources, adjoining regions,
counties, and stakeholders. We will go around the room so everyone can provide their update.
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM Introductions. We will go around the room and introduce ourselves. State:
1) Which
breakout group you are planning to participate in (see below)
2)
Name, Title, Area of Expertise
3) Why you are here
9:00 AM –
9:20 AM Break. Please do not be late returning
from the break.
9:20 AM – 9:30 AM Breakout Group Directions. Note the breakout groups
are set up directly to correspond to the nine sections of the RAP requirements. For the complete RAP guidelines see http://www.grantsloans.water.ca.gov/grants/irwm/integregio_news.cfm
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM Breakout Group Work
10:30
AM – 10:45 AM Break. Please do not be late returning from the break.
10:45 AM – 11:05 AM Breakout Group Reporting.
11:05 AM – 11:15 AM Next steps, etc.
11:15 AM – 12:00 noon Continue Breakout Group Work. You
may switch groups.
Section 2: Agency Lists and Contacts We need help completing the following
lists and describing relationships including information and infrastructure (in bullet format) between groups:·
Wholesale and retail water purveyors; including a
local agency, mutual water company, or a water corporation as defined by Section 241 of the Public Utilities Code;·
Wastewater agencies;·
Flood management agencies;·
Municipal and county governments and special districts;·
Electrical corporation, as defined in Section 218
of the Public Utilities Code;· Native American Tribes that have lands within the region;· Land use authorities;· Watermaster for adjudicated surface water or groundwater basins;·
Self-supplied water users, including agricultural,
industrial, residential and park districts, school districts, colleges and universities, and others;·
State, federal, and regional agencies or universities
that have specific responsibilities or knowledge within the region;
Section 3: Stakeholder Lists and Contacts We need help completing
the following lists and describing relationships including information and infrastructure (in bullet format) between groups:·
Environmental stewardship organizations including
watershed groups, fishing groups, land conservancies, and environmental groups;· Community organizations, including land owner organizations, taxpayer
groups, and recreational interests;· Industry organizations representing agriculture, developers, and other industries appropriate to the
region;· Members
and representatives of disadvantaged communities, including environmental justice organizations, neighborhood councils, and
social justice organizations; and· Any other interested groups appropriate to the region.
Section 4: Public Outreach, Involvement, and Disadvantaged Communities·
Develop description of the process being used that
makes the public both part of and aware of the regional management and IRWM efforts. Discuss ways for the public to gain access
to the RWMG and IRWM process for information and how they could provide input.·
We need to have a plan to identify and involve members
and representatives of disadvantaged communities, including environmental justice organizations, neighborhood councils, and
social justice organizations; and
Section
5: Governance Structure We need to develop a plan to complete this task by the time our planning grant
application is submitted. This group will be provided three example governance structures (CABY, Inyo-Mono, and Draft Madera
Implementation IRWMP) to check out to help figure out a game plan. We DO NOT have to finish the governance structure, just
the plan for getting it done. Also we need to start looking at examples and picking out things we like. The existing agreement
so far is:
We
are voluntary private and public entities forming a Regional Water Management Group (RWMP) that have agreed to participate
in the process of 1) establishing an Integrated Regional Water Management Plan regional boundary; 2) preparing a planning
grant application to complete an IRWMP for our accepted region; 3) completing and adopting an IRWMP; and 4) implementing our
completed IRWMP. Our RWMG consists of stakeholders and water management authorities that represent the majority of interests
within our regional boundary.
We acknowledge all local agencies within our regional boundary with statutory authority over water supply, water
quality, water management, and/or flood protection. We acknowledge each other’s local and regional interests in water
management and planning. We agree to mitigate competing interests or conflicting policies among members at least to the point
that those issues do not interfere with progress of integrated water planning and management. As a developing region, we agree
to continue pursuit of understanding the full range of needs within our region including those of disadvantaged communities,
other stakeholders, and the public.
We agree to develop
a governance structure and include additionally identified stakeholders during preparation of our planning grant application.
We will submit our final governance structure with our planning grant application.
Section 6: Maps and Data
Layers: If you know GIS and what data layers are you probably belong in this group. Here is what we
need:·
Political/jurisdictional boundaries; ·
Water, conservation, irrigation, and flood district
boundaries;·
Watershed management areas;·
Groundwater basins as defined in DWR Bulletin 118,
Update 2003·
RWQCB boundaries·
Floodplain maps (i.e. FEMA/Corps of Engineers);·
Physical, topographical, geographical and biological
features;·
Surface water bodies;·
Major water related infrastructure;·
Impaired water bodies;·
Population;·
Biological significant units or other biological
features (critical habitat areas); and·
Disadvantaged communities with median household income
demographics.
Section
7A: Water Components and Water Managers Describe the water related components of the region.
The submittal must consider two different types of components, the physical components and the groups that manage or have
input to those components. I need more input about which groups manage which water.
Section 7B: ISSUES We must identify issues to demonstrate
that we know about our problems (and therefore need funding for projects to improve conditions). All of these issues will
be organized by the Resource Management Strategies listed in the California Water Plan. Note: We have a great start from the
Mariposa area and can pull info for Madera from the adopted IRWMP. On this task, we would like issues identified and/or references
provided by Valley Floor and Mountain/Foothill that address the following: water quality, drinking water, water supply, groundwater
management, ecosystem restoration, stormwater/floodplains, regional boundaries, and disadvantaged communities.
Section 7C: Conflicts
and Competing Interests Describe local and regional water management issues, and conflicts in the region.
Issues and conflicts may relate to water supply, water quality, flood management, environmental stewardship, imported water,
wastewater, conjunctive use, etc. I have started this as related to the boundaries but need more input to identify
all known problems.
Please turn in information and comments
before you leave. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!