California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) has launched a Drought Resilience Interagency and Partners (DRIP) Collaborative to proactively prepare for a return to dry conditions amid climate-driven extremes in weather.
Initiated by Senate Bill 552, the DRIP Collaborative will foster partnerships between local governments, experts, community representatives and state agencies to address drought planning, emergency response and ongoing management. Members will help ensure support for community needs and anticipate and mitigate drought impacts, especially for small water supplier and rural communities that are often more vulnerable to droughts, DWR said.
While recent storms have filled many of the state’s reservoirs to average or above average levels and improved water conditions, much of the state remains in drought following the past three years of extreme drought – the state’s driest on record.
“Even as the state’s drought outlook improves, it’s critical that the water community all work together to advance drought planning and response for the state’s hotter, drier future,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “We’re looking for a variety of representatives statewide to actively participate on behalf of all water users to achieve a drought resilient future.”
The DRIP Collaborative will include 26 members, comprising state agency representatives and two appointees from each of the following groups: local governments, community-based organizations, Tribes, nonprofit technical assistance providers, the general public, agriculture, environmental representatives, public water systems, small water suppliers or urban water agencies, and experts in land use planning, water resilience or water infrastructure.
DWR will announce selected members of the DRIP Collaborative in spring 2023. Members will be chosen based on answers to a series of questions about their background, available time commitment and expected contributions to the Collaborative.
The first meeting is scheduled for April 6, 2023. Meetings will occur tri-annually and will be open to the public. DRIP Collaborative meetings will coordinate multiple state agencies to present the current and projected drought conditions the state is experiencing, discuss potential impacts in small water supplier and rural communities, challenges on-the-ground based on water community expertise, and align state programs, funding, and strategies to anticipate and proactively address climate-driven effects. The DRIP Collaborative will serve as a public forum to address drought-related issues and solutions across a state interagency team.
DWR operates the State Water Project (SWP), which provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians and also uses the water for hydropower generation. The SWP is a system of 32 storage facilities, 21 pumping plants, four pumping-generating plants, eight conventional hydroelectric plants and about 700 miles of canals and pipelines. Among these generating plants is the 762 MW Hyatt Powerplant at the foot of Oroville Dam.
