When we opened our California office in 2015, we were excited to bring collaborative, data-driven solutions to water quality and quantity issues in the Golden State. Over 10 years, we have formed strong partnerships. And we continue to find opportunities to apply our candid, bold problem-solving approach to ailing freshwater resources and the communities, wildlife, and economies that depend on them.
Challenges around groundwater sustainability, surface water management, and irrigation efficiencies all overlap geographically in the northern region of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Sacramento River Watershed. Policy guidance. Wastewater compliance. Restoration. The integration of data and new technologies into water management. This is a sampling of what we’re bringing to the table, along with a staunch commitment to results.
The following is a short summary of the things we’re working on.
1. Caldor-Cosumnes Watershed
Piloting a multi-funder, multi-project "Sierra to Sea" Watershed Outcomes Bank, led by the Eldorado National Forest, to provide strategic fire, flood, drought, habitat, and greenhouse gas benefits.
Brokered a groundwater replenishment agreement with Omochumne-Hartnell Water District to deliver Cosumnes River high flows under permit for managed aquifer recharge.
Partnered with SacSewer to secure a commitment of $394M to deliver up to 50,000 acre-feet/year of recycled water to agricultural lands and existing habitats in southern Sacramento County.
2. Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Established the Northern Delta Groundwater Sustainability Agency, a joint powers agreement agency that works collaboratively to ensure the protection of groundwater and interconnected surface waters.
Developed an alternative method using OpenET, approved by the State Water Resources Control Board, to help agricultural surface water users meet agricultural diversion measurement requirements.
3. San Joaquin Valley and Tulare Basin
Supported the NRCS and American Farmland Trust with an analysis of six water supply and demand scenarios to improve water supply and efficiency, while maintaining or improving local economic conditions through a portfolio of conservation actions.
4. Solano Subbasin
Piloted groundwater use tracking using remote Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to measure and transmit real-time water extraction data to a blockchain-enabled platform.
Piloted managed aquifer recharge analytical methods with NRCS, Dixon Resource Conservation District, and Solano County Water Agency.
Created an analytical tool to identify cost-effective opportunities for voluntary on-farm conservation practices that benefit groundwater sustainability, reduce flood increments, and reduce sediment loads.
5. Sacramento Valley
Providing corporations, resource agencies, and agricultural producers with the insight to drive coordinated investment that recovers and sustains water resources with our partners, including Microsoft, Pacific Institute, and Bonneville Environment Foundation.
Collaborated with US EPA and five-county Integrated Regional Water Management Plan to identify potential sources of mercury to prioritize restoration and remedial activities.
6. Truckee River Watershed
Developed an approach to identify, qualify and rank all the documented water rights and their estimated demand in an adjudicated watershed, including quality control of data and stored water supply management. (Adjudication is a court process that determines users' legal rights to water in a specific area.)
7. Lower Russian River
Partnered with City of Santa Rosa and City of Windsor to develop water quality trading programs to offset the impacts of their operations by implementing restoration actions to improve water quality by reducing nutrients.
Partnered with Google to improve our BasinScout analytical efficiency by deploying on Google Earth Engine.
8. San Francisco Bay
Supported US EPA and East Bay Municipal Utility District with preliminary analysis for a water quality trading program focused on nutrients, which is now advancing to the planning stage with multiple clean water agencies.
