Final_CA_Drought_Contingency_Plan-11-18-2010a

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California Drought Contingency Plantransfers. Transfers also provide a flexible approach to distributing available watersupplies for environmental purposes.The 2009 DWR Drought Water Bank is an example of the use of transfers in respondingto drought (see below section for further discussion on water transfers).Please see the recently released 2009 California Water Plan update for additionalinformation on the above strategies (www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/cwpu2009/index.cfm).Highlighted Strategies and Activities for Preparing for a DroughtThe State has taken or planned a number of actions and programs to prepare for thepossibility of an extended drought and to minimize its impacts. These strategies andprograms (described below) highlight some of the activities needed to respond to apotential long-term decrease in water supplies. Also, see Table 1 of the Appendix forpotential actions agencies may take in preparing for a drought.Drought Response Workshops and PlanningIn 2009, DWR, Cal EMA, and Department of Public Health hosted a series ofworkshops throughout California to share updates on drought impacts and responseactivities, and to discuss local groundwater conditions and planning for IntegratedRegional Water Management (IRWM) grants. Projects and programs that urban andagricultural agencies have been putting in place (often with state financial assistance) toimprove local water supply reliability also help with drought preparedness.Implementation of IRWM over time could help improve planning for water supplyreliability and drought preparedness at the regional scale, particularly in the context oflocal capital improvement planning for water infrastructure.Preparing for droughts entails having in place an institutional framework that addressesnot only actions that are directly related to provision of water supplies, but also providesfor the information collection and expertise to support emergency services response. Insome sectors (such as wildfire response) institutional capabilities are well developed interms of mutual aid agreements and the state’s incident command system.Development of institutional frameworks remains to be worked out in other sectors,including methodologies for quantifying and dealing with socioeconomic impacts.Drought Monitoring And ForecastingMonitoring and forecasting are essential to support effective drought responses. Theability to assess and predict drought require an extensive, long-term monitoring anddata collection effort. Being proactive to drought management requires continuousmonitoring of indicators to help predict the onset and extent of drought, as well as tohelp determine when to relax restrictions and return to normal operations. Real-timeweather water supply data will be compared with historical records to evaluate drought.DWR has already developed a drought website (Hwww.water.ca.gov/droughHt) containinglinks to water supply data such as snowpack, precipitation, runoff, and reservoir storageto help evaluate current water supply. Also, the California Data Exchange Center18
California Drought Contingency Plan(www://cdec.water.ca.gov/) installs, maintains, and operates an extensive hydrologicdata collection network including automatic snow reporting gages for the CooperativeSnow Surveys Program and precipitation and river stage sensors for flood forecasting.This information may be supplemented by a network of comprehensive data maintainedby other State, federal, and local agencies or organizations to provide accurate andcurrent information to guide management decisions. For example, the NationalIntegrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) is a drought information system thatbrings together a variety of observations, analysis techniques, and forecasting methodsin an integrated system to support drought assessment and decision-making(Reference 13). Opportunities for collaboration with NIDIS to supplement data orintegrate activities should be explored in future DCP updates.Also, DWR is finalizing upgrades to the California Irrigation Management InformationSystem (CIMIS) including an increased number of weather stations and improvedsystem maintenance that will provide important water saving irrigation information. Thisinformation, along with other drought data, is incorporated into drought impact reportsand bulletins to provide current information on water supply conditions.In addition, beginning in 2008, DWR began hosting Winter Outlook Workshops whichbrings together nationally known scientists to provide state water managers with themost accurate prediction possible for the water year that runs from October 1 throughSeptember 30. An accurate, long-range forecast for water year precipitation is a criticaltool for water managers throughout the state.Water ConservationWater conservation refers to reducing water usage which helps lower water demand. Aconservation measure is an action, behavioral change, technology, or improved designor process implemented to reduce water loss, waste, or use. Conservation should be apriority in all water management decisions because there is often not enough lead timeduring emergencies to undertake significant water saving improvements. The key towater conservation is public education.In 2009, DWR partnered with the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) tolaunch a statewide water conservation campaign aimed to reduce water use andeducate the public. The multi-year program aims to create a habit of saving water as acomponent of the comprehensive solutions to our water challenges. In May 2010, thecampaign was re-launched under the title “Real People, Real Savings”, featuring reallifeCalifornians and their water-saving stories to help encourage Californians toconserve water. DWR continues to incorporate the campaign into statewide events.Please visit the campaign website (www.Hsaveourh2o.orgH) which contains conservationtips, videos, and tools on saving water.In 2009, The Department of General Services mandated water conservation bestmanagement practices (BMP) for all state-owned facilities and requested owners ofstate-leased facilities to also implement BMP for water conservation. These19
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