The California water resilience portfolio draft has now been released and is available for public comment. The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) have been working on the portfolio for several months after an executive order from Governor Gavin Newsom. The portfolio is designed to build upon the recent progress that has been made in making California more resilient to the multitude of water issues the state faces.
“State agencies are only one set of water decision-makers in California,” CDFA Secretary Karen Ross said in a press release. “Continuing to improve our water systems relies on collaboration across all groups of water users and all stakeholders. Accordingly, feedback on this draft will be important to refining and finalizing our portfolio.”
The draft highlights four main points of emphasis such as maintaining and diversifying water supplies, protecting and enhancing natural ecosystems, upgrading infrastructure, and improving preparations for future climate constraints. The recommended actions are based on several months of public and industry feedback, as well as an in-depth assessment of the current conditions and needs for California’s water system. The portfolio working group considered input from more than 20 listening sessions and hundreds of written comments.
“This draft portfolio has been shaped to provide tools to local and regional entities to continue building resilience and to encourage collaboration within and across regions,” said CNRA Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “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.”
The 147-page draft document is available online for review, with information on how to submit written feedback available at the Water Resilience website. The public will have until Friday, February 7 to provide feedback on the draft portfolio with a final water resilience portfolio expected to be released soon after.
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