Great egrets and snowy egrets gather at Anaheim Lake in Anaheim, CA, one of Orange County Water District's groundwater recharge basins, Florence Low / DWR

WEBINAR: Managing California’s Groundwater: Incorporating Climate Change and Multi-Benefit Projects

Local Government Commission and the Groundwater Exchange held a three-part webinar series to share key learnings from the Groundwater Leadership Forum’s 2020 Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) review and provide detailed guidance about how GSPs can address specific areas of interest.  The third and final webinar in the series focused on incorporating climate change into GSPs and developing multi-benefit projects.

Our expert presenters were:

  • Pablo Ortiz, Climate Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists: Pablo Ortiz is a Bilingual Climate and Water Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He plans, designs, and carries out primary analysis on how changing climate patterns are impacting key sectors and populations in West Coast states, especially with regards to precipitation and water supply changes. Dr. Ortiz also works on developing strategies for vulnerable sectors and populations in California to cope and adapt to the current and projected impacts of climate change, particularly related to water impacts.
  • Samantha Arthur, Conservation Project Manager, Audubon Society: Samantha Arthur is Working Lands Program Director at Audubon California. She works with farmers and wetland managers in the Central Valley to increase the scope and scale of bird-friendly management practices and restoration. Samantha also oversees Audubon’s efforts to protect managed wetlands in the implementation of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, and works with a coalition of environmental and drinking water organizations to address groundwater management across the state.
  • Ryan Luster, Water Project Director, The Nature Conservancy: Ryan Luster is a senior project director within The Nature Conservancy’s California Water and Disaster Resiliency programs. Ryan works with state, federal, non-profit, and private partners to advance multi-benefit projects that include riparian restoration, flood risk reduction, groundwater replenishment, and nature-based solutions for integrated floodplain management in California. Ryan holds degrees from Beloit College (B.A. Environmental Biology) and Utah State University (M.S. Range Science).

Previous webinars in this series

Groundwater Leadership Forum Review

Groundwater Exchange

Multi-benefit projects

For more on Maven’s Notebook:

And lastly …

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email