The California Water Plan 2005 Update promotes integrated regional water
management (IRWM) to ensure sustainable water uses, reliable water supplies, better water quality,
environmental stewardship, efficient urban development, protection of agriculture, and a strong
economy. IRWM provides several benefits to water management agencies and the communities they
serve, including:
- Fostering regional partnerships
- Maximizing local resources
- Diversifying regional water options
- Providing planning and implementation funding opportunities
- Providing the opportunity to achieve regional projects and benefits, and
- Optimizing the management of water and environmental resources
- When major water players all identify common objectives, it provides focus and momentum for regional water projects that otherwise would seen too complex or expensive for any single agency to pursue
The District is participating in two IRWM efforts, one in the San
Francisco Bay Area and one in the Pajaro River Watershed. Both efforts have produced
IRWM Plans (IRWMPs) that integrate the planning efforts for water supply, flood
protection, wastewater treatment, watershed planning, environmental protection and
water quality into a single document for their regions. Both IRWMPs identify the
region's water resource management needs and objectives, and present innovative
strategies and a detailed implementation plan to achieve these objectives,
contributing to sustainable water resource management throughout the region.
The District Board of Directors adopted the
Bay Area IRWMP
on November 14, 2006. The Board will consider adopting the Pajaro River Watershed
IRWMP in the Spring of 2007.
Pajaro River Watershed IRWMP
Additional Information
Bay Area IRWMP
Additional Information
