WRD Endorses ACWA's Groundwater Management
The Association of California Water Agencies' policy framework asks agencies to implement plans to meet sustainability objectives.
The Association of California Water Agencies recently released a new policy framework that calls on water agencies to implement groundwater management plans. The recommends four specific goals:
- local water agencies should implement groundwater management plans to meet sustainability objectives,
- state government should facilitate the development of locally managed, sustainability-based groundwater management plans,
- state agencies should remove impediments to sustainable groundwater management wherever possible, and
- sustainable groundwater management must be part of a comprehensive plan to achieve the coequal goals of improved statewide water supply reliability and environmental restoration.
"We are very encouraged by the release of these objectives," said Robb Whitaker, general manager of the Water Replenishment District. "WRD has been managing the groundwater of the Central Basin and the West Coast Basin of South Los Angeles County for over 50 years. Our integrated and sustainable groundwater management plan can serve as a guide to other agencies and we look forward to active participation in this plan."
WRD is the regional groundwater management agency for 11 percent of California's population who reside in 43 cities of southern Los Angeles County.
The district's Water Independence Now (WIN) program is a suite of water supply and reliability projects that, when fully implemented, can make replenishment of the most urbanized groundwater basins in the state independent of imported water supply from Northern California and the Colorado River. WRD said the program can completely replace imported water demand with local sources of water for replenishment purposes, making these groundwater basins fully self-sufficient.
Source: Water Replenishment District