Integrated Regional Water Management, commonly known as IRWM,
aims to collectively manage all aspects of water resources in a
region. This approach includes all constituencies, including
those that traditionally have been outside of the water planning
and policy process such as tribal representatives.
IRWM reflects an increasing regional self-reliance to meet water
supply needs and the recognition that regional water assets, such
as groundwater banking, are necessary to reduce the need for
water conveyed over long distances.
IRWM stresses that water resources are usually not confined to
simple boundaries that fall under the jurisdiction of a single
management agency. Instead water resources often flow
across regions and in turn require a consensus-based,
cross-jurisdictional, regional approach. Along the way,
water purveyors, planners, landowners, stakeholders, and others
become involved and thus integral to IRWM planning. Programs
typically include components of land use planning, environmental
protection/restoration and groundwater management.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) was nationally
recognized for its leadership in climate action and integrated
water management at the 2024 American Water Resources
Association (AWRA) conference in St. Louis earlier this month.
DWR received two prestigious awards: the Sandor C. Csallany
Institutional Award for its comprehensive Climate Action Plan
(CAP), as well as accepting the Integrated Water Resources
Management Award on behalf of the Flood-Managed Aquifer
Recharge (Flood-MAR) Network which includes DWR and partners.
These awards, received during the 60th Anniversary of AWRA,
highlight DWR’s ongoing commitment to addressing climate change
and enhancing California’s water resilience through
collaboration, innovation, and forward-thinking strategies.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
Joaquin Esquivel learned that life is
what happens when you make plans. Esquivel, who holds the public
member slot at the State Water Resources Control Board in
Sacramento, had just closed purchase on a house in Washington
D.C. with his partner when he was tapped by Gov. Jerry Brown a
year ago to fill the Board vacancy.
Esquivel, 35, had spent a decade in Washington, first in several
capacities with then Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and then as
assistant secretary for federal water policy at the California
Natural Resources Agency. As a member of the State Water Board,
he shares with four other members the difficult task of
ensuring balance to all the uses of California’s water.
A new study could help water
agencies find solutions to the vexing challenges the homeless
face in gaining access to clean water for drinking and
sanitation.
The Santa Ana Watershed Project
Authority (SAWPA) in Southern California has embarked on a
comprehensive and collaborative effort aimed at assessing
strengths and needs as it relates to water services for people
(including the homeless) within its 2,840 square-mile area that
extends from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Orange County
coast.
This 24-page booklet traces the development of the
landmark Water Forum Agreement, signed in April 2000 by 40
Sacramento region water purveyors, public officials, community
group leaders, environmentalists and business representatives.
The publication also offers insight on lessons learned by
Water Forum participants.
This printed issue of Western Water discusses low
impact development and stormwater capture – two areas of emerging
interest that are viewed as important components of California’s
future water supply and management scenario.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the Russian and
Santa Ana rivers – areas with ongoing issues not dissimilar to
the rest of the state – managing supplies within a lingering
drought, improving water quality and revitalizing and restoring
the vestiges of the native past.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water
Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the principles of IRWM,
its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water
management approach.
