New Partnership Announced in California Supporting Groundwater Sustainability

The Water Accounting Platform that Sitka co-developed for Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and  Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District, with support from Olsson, OpenET, and WestWater Research, is at the core of an important effort in California to aid sustainable groundwater management.

Now’s the time to implement innovative water management strategies in order to recover from the drought California currently faces and be better prepared for future shortages. It is for this reason that the California Water Data Consortium, EDF, California Department of Water Resources, State Water Resources Control Board, and local agencies joined forces. This partnership exists to support groundwater sustainability agencies as they work to raise their local basins to more sustainable levels.

Check out California Department of Water Resources’ press release announcing the partnership and how the groundwater accounting platform encourages better water-usage strategies by giving managers the necessary tools to make data-driven decisions. The importance of this partnership is underscored by Christina Babbitt, Senior Manager of EDF’s California Groundwater Program and Tara Moran, CEO of the California Water Data Consortium, in their blog posting, “3 ways this accounting platform will help California groundwater agencies transition to sustainable supplies.”

Tracking water assets and usage, creating water budgets, and scenario modeling are a few strategies available to water managers and landowners through the Water Accounting Platform. In addition, there’s an option to enable a water trading feature to open up new possibilities for innovative approaches. The platform is open-source, expandable to meet local needs and will encourage the adoption of data standards consistent with the Open and Transparent Water Data Act (AB 1755).  

Want to see how the Water Accounting Platform helps balance water supply and demand? Get in touch with me for a live demo and chat about what it could do for you.