WELLS VALLEY WATER DISTRICT DON ZDEBA –
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) offers Facilitation Support Services (FSS) to help Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) and local water management groups foster discussions among diverse water management interests and jurisdictions in support of Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) implementation. Through the FSS Program, the Indian Wells Valley Water District (IWVWD) requested professional facilitation to support this basin in discussing challenges related to SGMA, the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), and the multiple related lawsuits that have been filed.
Stantec is a neutral third-party facilitator working on behalf of the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in the Indian Wells Valley basin to gather input and guidance from local stakeholders to identify and clarify the challenges being faced related to local groundwater management. You can learn more about the facilitation support being provided in Indian Wells Valley by reviewing the materials and watching Stantec’s May 17th presentation to the community here: https://www.iwvwd.com/DWR-Facilitation/
As a first step, Stantec is reaching out to key stakeholders within the basin to conduct one-on-one or small group interviews as part of a broad stakeholder assessment. On behalf of the Indian Wells Valley Water District, I would like to invite you to participate in an interview with Lisa Beutler and Emily Finnegan (CC’d here) from the Stantec team. Emily will be reaching out to you soon to schedule an interview.
Stantec will also be conducting a stakeholder assessment survey open to all members of the community. The survey will allow members of the community to provide feedback on the local groundwater management challenges being faced and provide input on the potential options the basin should consider moving forward. The survey will be distributed broadly throughout the community and posted on the Indian Wells Valley website on the link above once it is available.
We hope that you are able to participate in the upcoming interview. Please let me know if you have any questions.