A wrap-up session at the Water Education Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento offered more than 150 participants a chance to say what they learned, what they wish they had heard and what they think the next governor’s water priorities should be.

The audience was asked to respond via a mobile phone survey app to five questions, four of them stemming from Water Summit speakers and panels on headwaters challenges, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the state’s human right to water law, and what they wish they’d heard more about. The last question asked: “If you were California’s next Governor, what would your priorities be regarding water?”

What follows are participants responses to those questions.

What were your key takeaways from the Headwaters panel?

• Partnership and thinking outside the box are critical.­
• Prepare for floods!!!!
• Watershed quality at the headwaters is important for downstream users.
• Excellent presentation by Daniel Swain. Where is the application with what Daniel presented to the State Water Project that has only 5.2 MAF of total storage and an aging infrastructure, e.g. Orville dam?
• I learned nothing specific (that I can takeaway) about how a public agency is investing in headwater management or how their investments are financed.
• Transparency, conversations and partnerships!
• It’s important to move forward now having the right people in leadership. Every time it changes we stop again.
• Think big!
• Regulatory, water users, and NGOs are willing to put science first, sharp data, learn together, and make decisions together.
• Changing climate and increasing water demands require cooperative solutions. The whole water system from headwaters to the groundwater to the Delta should be reassessed. New approaches, new data and tools will be needed.
• I learned that State Water Contractors and individual farmers were willing to make sacrifices to help the salmon run grow. I never heard anything given from American Rivers. My takeaway is that environmental groups have nothing to offer but grief.
• Linkage between forest management and water.
• 50% chance of 200-year flood in the next 40 years. Increasingly extreme swings from flood to drought conditions.
• We have to act now! Water agencies can help!
• Preparedness for drought and flood in the face of climate change is a strong reality for the state to face.
• The possibilities to manage for water and fire simultaneously within state forests.
• Water in CA is complicated, interconnected and solvable.
• Need a shift in forest management.
• Buy flood insurance!
• The need for and challenges facing effective forest management. Specifically, the economic challenges to forest thinning.
• Need to maintain forest health.
• Thin the forest of all but the largest most mature trees. It will allow for more water for all and reduce fuel for fires.
• Leadership/trust key to implementing solutions.
• If done right, addressing the Headwaters issue will help address mega fires, flooding and drought issues —AKA, the three seasons of CA!
• 100 years of bad decision making is leading to an increase in the severity of wildfires. Need to change ASAP.
• Need multiple tools for private, state and federal lands.
• Forest thinning is crucial.
• Collaboration.
• Need more communication across the board to fund and implement water security solutions in the face of climate change.
• Effects of extreme environmentalism evident.
• Forest management is crucial to help prevent large forest fires!
• There are too many trees.
• Groundwater recharge is important.
• Forest management needs to evolve to address climate change.
• Collaboration, transparency and data sharing are necessary for our long-term success.
• The need for collaboration from all aspects of government, the welcoming of a new generation of thinking and the removal of old political schemes in the eyes of the various issues surrounding natural resources.
• Forest health deserves and demands widespread recognition & support.
• Climate change means we cannot stick with status quo of management.
• We are all linked in our water decisions.
• Clean up forest, infrastructure on rivers.
• Climate change is reality… think big.
• Problem is recognized but there is still a lack of a comprehensive action plan.
• Data sharing and availability across agencies is a must. Continue work across borders to dive into data to understand what our existing conditions are. Cooperation will lead to success.
• Managing the forests is key to improving water yield and water “safety.”
• Good selection of panel members, per Randy there is a lot that can be done.
• It’s the second highest priority of the ACWA board. BTW, the highest priority is water quality, affordability, availability and DAC (disadvantaged communities).
• Who will pay for forest health and resiliency?
• Remember the benefits of water efficiency when considering whether to store water or prepare for floods.
• Build water biomass plants.
• Data sharing is needed.
• Public-private partnerships need to get looked into.
• Massive scale floods should be considered in risk management.
• Small rural communities struggle with securing funding for water supply infrastructure.
• Ask Willie.
• Think big, maintain forest health and increase prescribed burns
• Need to maintain forest health.
• Now is the time.
• Who will pay?
• We are all connected.
• Groundwater research.
• Don’t kick the can down the road — do something before a disaster hits.
• What being done now for the end users?
• Headwater management aimed at protecting water supply benefits will take investment.
• I liked the willingness of Sierra users, NGOs and regulators to work other science.
• Making choices together.
• Multi-party collaborations are needed.
• I have hope that the headwaters and forests will be improved. The diverse interests all seemed to be on the same page and ready to act. Hooray!
• Yuba Water Agency is cutting edge.
• Forest thinning is a statewide issue.
• Forest Service is under-funded.
• There is a major need for statewide education on effective forest management.
• How to get the money?
• Forest management is key.
• Make it a priority.
• Build new conduits for storage.

What were your key takeaways from the Delta panel?

• How do we cut through the rhetoric and make real change?
• Bay Delta will not improve until environmentalist groups are willing to give something too.
• They are willing to work together for decisions.
• We need to learn how to communicate effectively.
• I love Jen’s idea about testing our hypotheses and moving out!
• No silver bullet.
• Floodplain fatties are awesome!
• Flow standards are going to create winners and losers. Hopefully the ecosystem will be one of the winners.
• Time for action.
• Can’t we all get along for the greater good (our environment) for our children & future generations?
• More education!
• Local solutions aren’t yet being scaled up to the landscape level.
• Settlements should be broad based.
• Multi-benefit projects are possible with enough funding and collaboration.
• When does the Delta history begin?
• There are solutions if we look for them!
• When we look at the problem with solutions in mind, instead of our dug-in positions, we can find agreement.
• People argue more with each other than they do with fish.
• Action not so much talk
• Monitoring and data analysis are not prioritized enough.
• Find reasonable balance between all people.
• It is still undetermined how or who will fund and operate fish habitat improvements in the Delta and upstream.
• SWC need to stay out of SWRCB flow requirements
• Manage with data, not dogma.
• It’s complicated.
• They need data transparency.
• An adaptive planning framework is necessary. 20-year reboot does not work.
• We will get nowhere until extreme environmentalists decide to give as much as Roger and Jenn.
• State Water Contractors are now a science-based organization, much, much more science coordination is needed.
• Need to focus on the projects that we all agree on and that are effective. Don’t focus on the issues that divide.
• There are no easy answers.
• Increase links between science and information to decision and policy makers.
• Turning rice fields into floodplain habitat is great. Are there ways to do this without added pumping costs?
• May God save us from the SWRCB.
• People are finally starting to play nice together…starting.
• Need to establish the outflow baseline.
• Flow standards are the sledgehammer attempting to force collaboration.
• SWRCB cannot order landowners to convert existing land uses into floodplains.
• Uh, oh.
• Need agreement on what to do first/process.
• They agree on a lot, but not enough to get to consensus yet. Put some water on the table and let’s test the hypothesis. Just do it.
• We’ve been studying for 20 years, and we’re starting a new study. Please stand by.
• Better decision tools are needed.
• No regrets/multi-benefit projects are important for fish/wildlife and nature!
• Expand upon the great projects already underway.
• We were talking about Delta solutions when I joined the water community in 1973, still talking about and will be long after I am dust.
• Solutions have to be direct. Everyone has to be at the table to find solutions together.
• Change will be driven by stakeholders and cooperation.
• Restore floodplains.
• Quit the infighting and let’s use our smarts to work together.
• The collaborative efforts will only be successful when welcomed by both old and new politics.
• Work on the projects are widely viewed as good projects.
• Focus on multi-benefit projects.
• Much misinformation and mistrust muddies the waters.
• Collaboration will be key!
• How is the adjudicated existing water paid for when it is turned down the river.
• Felicia loves settlement!!!!
• Piecemeal approach too expensive.
• Doing the right thing takes commitment and courage.
• Agencies other than water agencies need to collaborate as well!
• We all need to share in solution.
• Everyone must suffer.
• Voluntary agreements preferable but require data, leadership, funding, and proper incentives.
• Restore habitats.
• Voluntary agreements would be more durable.
• What a mess. I am glad smarties are trying to fix this. Get ‘er done!
• Public-private partnerships!
• We are trying to find leadership.
• There are opportunities.
• Collaboration is paramount.
• Think bigger on floods and flood management.
• Everything is tied to everything else.
• Collaboration is a must.
• Use funding wisely.

What were your key takeaways from the Human Right to Water panel?

• We need to do something. It’s deplorable to have this happening in the fifth-largest economy in the world.
• There is agreement that everyone deserves water, but how to ensure/fund it still unclear.
• Partnerships, collaborations and conversations!
• Discussion and progress on clean drinking water. I live in Tulare County, so the information was interesting and helpful to know that the state is working on the issue.
• No easy solution.
• Haves won’t help the have-nots.
• There is a notable disconnect between the willingness of legislators and policymakers to help DACs in large population centers, but significantly less willingness in smaller communities.
• Bad land use decisions come back to bite us.
• The poverty in the Central Valley is a problem that will not go away.  They will get worse with climate change. We need to spend the money to correct it.
• There is a disconnect between regulators and what is actually happening. It will take time.
• Have to find a way to improve government process to achieve common-sense solutions.   Shouldn’t be such an issue to get money to those everyone agrees need it.
• I take my straw and drink your shake!
• DAC’s are not outliers.
• Is it cheaper to rebuild housing closer to established communities? (Coming from someone whose never been attached to a specific location.)
• The panel bias was clear and limited. There are other choices other than the water tax. There are solutions, AB 2050, awaiting the Governor’s signature.
• Water tax failure was clear message to Legislators.
• The biggest barrier to implementing solutions is the urban water agency politicians.
• Finding effective and implementable solutions to funding safe water supply in rural communities seems intractable.
• Need more land use control, which may likely limit economic growth.
• The boogeyman is actually $15.
• Private-property rights vs. regionalization plays a role in being able to move forward.
• Legacy issues are costly. Cannot keep doing the same thing over; it is not too late to make the right decision to make a change of course.
• We need to support these communities as our future leaders may be among them — we all benefit from helping those in need.
• There needs to be a more compassionate and diversified approach at all government levels to fulfilling a basic human right. The human right to water implicates other human rights: right to housing, right to food, etc.
• Solving the problem on the backs of my customers is not a solution.
• Solid Infrastructure with low O&M costs.
• Better understanding of water across the landscape in relation to community needs.
• Vulnerability assessments need to include citizen science.
• Politics will be the death of us.
• Camille and Denise, you were necessary to today’s discussion!! I stand behind your efforts. History will catch up.
• The problem is multi-faceted and will take money.
• Access is separate from affordability.
• Tradeoffs between water quality and affordability.
• Drink my shake.
• The top does not understand the issues at the ground level.
• SGMA and dollars needed to invest in local water supply reliability.
• Remember we are all Americans. Put our country and fellow citizens first, learn to work together.
• Government cannot solve our problems, we all need to continue to work together.
• The human right needs some human intervention in order to work.
• There are a lot of really unhappy people that the water tax failed.
• No one wants to pay for it.
• Align policy priorities with community need.
• More government is the answer…LOL.
• Solutions exist, funding does not.
• Complex political climate.
• State does not understand the issues for local agencies.
• Water Tax is not acceptable.
• There are better and fairer means of collecting funds.
• It’s not OK that so many in CA don’t have access to safe, affordable drinking water.
• More leadership by state is necessary.
• We need a crisis like a drought to get us to take action — we need to do better.
• Need more funding.
• Community and stakeholder education!
• Rural communities count too!
• You can lead a water user to a sustainable future, but you can’t make them drink.
• The human issues (e.g. “I don’t like the county and therefore will not participate”) are a major impediment that takes a lot of hard work.
• Opportunity to implement multi water use distribution lines, e.g. recycle, gray, potable, etc….
• Politics.
• Poverty is not a disease.
• Continued – they may be the ones making decisions for us when we are seniors!!!
• More grassroots and nonprofit perspectives.
• Dealing with water emergencies will become more complicated and requires more planning.
• Get rid of old politics. The clock is ticking.
• Need to look at whole picture together, not look at pricing, water quality, groundwater and surface water all separately.
• Consolidation is an important tool but not a silver bullet.
• When you start a project FINISH IT!!!

What was missing in the conversation that needs to be put on the table?

• Balance and practicality in legislation/regulation.
• Can water rates keep climbing?
• Commercial fisheries and others working with natural resources. Water crosses many boundaries.
• Connection between SGMA and the CA WaterFix.
• Cost of implementation.
• Delta panel could have put more emphasis on climate change e.g. sea level rise.
• Endangered Species Act’s influence on water management.
• Environmental water management.
• How to integrate the next generation of water managers into today’s pressing topics.
• I would have appreciated a voice from the CVP in the Delta discussion.
• Improving water management through data.
• Infrastructure!
• Long-term science, not just short-term monitoring.
• More from Bureau of Reclamation and discussion of the tax dollars given to Mexico to make those consumptive cuts.
• New governance structure.
• Perhaps some politicians?! Perhaps some from the underserved community and asking them what we can do to help.
• Private property rights issues, land use/housing zoning mandates, governance options, coordination/alignment of regulations and non-believers.
• SGMA successes.
• Start at the top in the headwaters and work your way down.
• Technical discussions on what research/projects are showing promise to improve future water supply.
• The other regulatory agencies that drive water decisions, namely fish agencies. They were not a part of this conversation.
• The stormwater and supply intersections.
• Too much group think.  Need fresh perspectives and solutions.
• We heard many problems. A stronger focus on solutions.
• We talk about resiliency to climate change but not local land use decisions that put more homes in flood plains!
• What we are hearing in the local water agency boardroom.
• Work with the federal government to help develop a system to transport water from areas of excess (Eastern U.S.) to areas of drought (Western U.S.).
• Would have liked to have heard from those against the water tax. Needed balance.
• Would love to hear from private industry in the forest management panel.
• Strategies to address increased frequency and severity of debris flows that will follow biggest wildfires every year at base of semi-arid mountains.
• Environmental water account.
• Effects of future earthquakes on Delta and other infrastructure.
• Infrastructure!
• Not women!
• How do we restructure California government to meet the needs for the future?
• Agricultural needs in the future.
• Ecological benefits beyond salmon.

If you were California’s next governor, what would your priorities be regarding water?

• Start at the top in the headwaters and work your way down.
• Flood plains.
• That Making Water Conservation a California Way of Life is your top priority.
• Direct CDFW to cooperate more, obstruct less.
• Streamline decisions and science.
• Shrinking snowpack and creative ways to address shortfalls.
• Storage and hydroelectric development.
• Reduce unnecessary layers of agencies that create barriers to working together and hurt the cause of affordability.
• Developing resilience in our flood control system so we can be more flexible with the extreme whiplash that’s coming — floods to droughts.
• Human right to water.
• Local and regional solutions are the best way forward.  Top down “solutions” will create resistance and failure.
• Fire, floods, human right to water. All of these are public safety issues.
• Accelerating the implementation of SGMA.
• Commit to quick resolution on: WQCP updates/settlements, Waterfix, new storage and additional land use control.
• Work with the federal government to move water from Eastern U.S. to Western U.S. during flooding.
• Regulatory and programs alignment to have clarity, less redundancy and less complexity.
• She should focus on storage, WaterFix and disadvantaged communities (DACs).
• Water issues cannot always be solved by a one-size-fits-all approach. No credit for recycled water and desal projects. REALLY?
• Find an easier topic for a legacy.
• Ecosystem solutions and green infrastructure!
• First clean up the forests and our waterways.
• Infrastructure for safety of dams and spillways.
• Conservation and efficiency.
• Do not lock genius out of the room due to old politics.
• Address less supply with more demand.
• Groundwater recharge.
• Whiskey needed.
• Food security is top priority.
• Limit growth or limit environment getting the majority of all water.
• Aging infrastructure.
• Aquifer storage and recovery.
• Accelerate recycled water.
• The vast majority of the water industry is extremely well managed. We can solve more problems working together than taking corners.
• Stop wasting resources on the tunnels.
• We need an all-of-the-above water strategy.
• Work on streamlining the process to get the disadvantaged communities the grant money that is there.
• Recharge and better local land use collaboration.
• The issues for water agencies in attempting to implement any kind of voluntary tax.
• Housing for homeless to get them off our riverbanks.
• Take time to understand local systems to advise approach to statewide issues.
• Pilot projects to test new normal scenarios.
• Droughts in the face of climate change.
• Data transparency.
• Merge gray and green infrastructure.
• Water conveyance and recharge.
• What the Delta should look like after a disaster.
• Water efficiency rebates should not be taxable income.
• No more plastic water bottles allowed.
• Forest fires and flooding effects on reservoirs.
• Camille Pannu for Governor.
• Funding, infrastructure, multi-benefit projects and environmental management.
• Funding for long-term monitoring, data analysis, synthesis and communication of findings.
• Bring voices to the table to represent large and diverse group. Don’t be afraid of challenging conversations.
• Salton Sea must be addressed.
• There are no silver bullets.
• Water purification systems for all households in underserved communities.
• Accurate public information.
• Fix the levees we need, remove or set back the ones we don’t.