A crowd of 40-50 rural residents made the trek down to the Hessel Grange hall in Sebastopol on July 25 for an open dialogue with County water experts — about the potential impact of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) on our rural communities here in Sonoma County.
A big thank you to our Guild President, Tiffany Renée, for moderating the evening, and to our all-star speakers:
Each speaker brought their expert POV on:
- The current status of SGMA implementation for the Santa Rosa Plain, Sonoma Valley, and Petaluma Valley groundwater basins
- Short and long term plans for the formation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in the county
- Actionable ideas for our rural communities to have a seat at the table in the GSA process, including participating in advisory boards that could shape the direction of future groundwater regulation.
Be sure to check out these resources about the SGMA, it’s impact on our groundwater management, and ways for you to be involved (click the bold text below to link to each resource):
Jay Jasperse’s PowerPoint presentation — Latest update on the SGMA in Sonoma County
Sonoma County Sustainable Groundwater Management Act website — with tons of information and updates about the SGMA implementation, basin by basin groundwater management plans, info about upcoming public workshops, and more.
Sonoma Resource Conservation District
Green Streets, Clean Water Video presentation co-produced by Tiffany during the forum; a presentation in June 2013 to Petaluma City Council on the adoption of an integrated approach to stormwater management.
And check out the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center’s WATER Institute initiative, being led by Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist, with a bunch of really great water conservation information.
