State agencies have collaborated to release a draft Water Resilience Portfolio for California, with recommended actions to help the state cope with aging infrastructure, more extreme droughts and floods, rising temperatures, and other challenges.

Shaped by months of public input, the draft portfolio — developed by the CA Natural Resources Agency, CA Environmental Protection Agency and CA Department of Food and Agriculture — outlines more than 100 integrated actionable recommendations to help regions build water resilience as resources become available, while at the same time providing state leadership to improve infrastructure and protect natural ecosystems.

Goals and actions are organized into four categories:

  • Build infrastructure connections: State actions and investment will improve physical infrastructure to store, move, and share water more flexibly and integrate water management through shared use of science, data, and technology.
  • Maintain and diversify water supplies: State government will continue to help regions reduce reliance on any one water source and diversify supplies to enable flexibility amidst changing conditions. Diversification will look different in each region based on available water resources.
  • Be prepared: Each region must prepare for new threats, including more extreme droughts and floods and hotter temperatures. State investments and guidance will enable preparation, protective actions, and adaptive management to weather these stresses.
  • Protect and enhance natural ecosystems: State leadership is essential to restore the environmental health of key river systems to sustain fish and wildlife. This requires continued investments, effective standard setting and more adaptive, holistic environmental management.

“This draft portfolio has been shaped to provide tools to local and regional entities … and to encourage collaboration within and across regions,” Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said. “At the same time, state government needs to invest in projects of statewide scale and importance, and tackle challenges beyond the scope of any region. Taken together, the proposed actions aim to improve our capacity to prepare for disruptions, withstand and recover from shocks, and adapt from these experiences.”

Source: CA Water Daily