THE FORMULATION OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY INTEGRATED REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN: A FOUNDATION FOR CONTINUED REGIONAL COORDINATION

摘要

Historically, competing agricultural, environmental, and urban demands present serious water management challenges within the Sacramento Valley. In meeting these challenges, water users, conservation organizations and local governments across the Sacramento Valley continue to build on the foundational efforts initiated during the last prolonged drought in the early 1990s. These early efforts provided the initial working relationships that have promoted the sharing of ideas, regional thinking, and collective planning across the Sacramento Valley. Building on these various sub-regional efforts and relationships, which have been and continue to be supported by state and federal agency funding and participation, the diverse parties in the Sacramento Valley continue to proactively implement and evaluate the means for improved water management. These efforts to date have resulted in the implementation of numerous projects to improve the management of the valley's water and natural resources, the development of a number of subregional plans, and the recent completion of the Sacramento Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (IRWMP). The IRWMP is a living and dynamic document that will be used as a basis to further explore opportunities to develop, plan, monitor, and implement programs and projects across the valley. It is anticipated that this integrated approach will continue to improve ecosystem and fishery resources, water quality, and water supply reliability throughout the region.