HydroVis SGMA Implementation:
the story of conflict, collaboration and lessons learned to reach groundwater sustainability.
A short report out from the GRA/ACWA SGMA Implementation Summit and Workshop, held June 7 and 8 in Sacramento by Lisa Porta and Adam Hutchinson
This year, the newly revamped SGMA Implementation Summit provided a time to reflect, openly and honestly share stories of successes and challenges, empathize, and lift each other up to brave the next decades of what will be challenging groundwater management conditions. The GRA and ACWA collaboration, with Trevor Joseph and Soren Nelson, allowed for expanded attendance by groundwater managers and agency board members, and a mixing of technical experts and policy-makers. Panelists provided insights on their “secret sauce” to make progress on the road to sustainability – namely, engage people early in the implementation process, listen to stakeholders, educate and inform, build trust and strong relationships, coordinate and partner with local communities. Sometimes the forced partnerships that were created through the local governance process required by SGMA has resulted in “dysfunctional GSA families”. And with any family, differences in approach and opinions can produce passionate interactions but, hopefully, lead to better outcomes in the end, although time and patience are needed for everyone to get on board. One GSA has had success in overcoming difficult hurdles by organizing a Coffee Shop Committee for a conversation in a casual setting. With SGMA, it is also important to realize that we all need to come to the same understanding in our basins and that all aspects of SGMA and water management are interconnected. The interpretation of information can only be as good as the data shared; in other words, more sharing of data and information can go a long way in furthering the understanding and problem solving of the issues at hand. SGMA fluency or “SGMAntics” (as coined by Dave Ceppos) helps you use the same language with others in the basin; you may need a SGMA translator at the beginning of the process, but hopefully, SGMA fluency is ramping up. 20
2023 Fall Issue
HydroVisions