Drought, Fire and a Changing Climate:
Where Do We Go from Here?

Register today!

Registration will close at 11:59 PM on October 21, 2021

Date: October 27, 2021

Time: 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Location: Blue Goose Event Center, 3550 Taylor Rd, Loomis, CA 95650

Register here: https://mcwra.brownpapertickets.com/

Admission is $45 for MCWRA members and $55 for non-members. Check-in and networking will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the program starting at 9:15 a.m.

Notes: If you have any questions about the registration process or if registration level is closed, please email Rayann La France at mcwra.office@gmail.com to be placed on a waiting list. Speakers, sponsors, and special guests will receive an email from Rayann or Jim Branham with a promo code and instructions to register. Online registration is required, no walk-ins. Space is limited, all sales are subject to availability.

Agenda

We hope to see you on October 27th!

THANK YOU TO OUR 22 EVENT SPONSORS!

Watershed-Level Sponsors ($2,500)

Lake-Level Sponsors ($1,000)

Stream-Level Sponsors ($500)

Drought, Fire and a Changing Climate: Where Do We Go from Here?

October 27, 2021, 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Blue Goose Event Center
3550 Taylor Rd, Loomis, CA 95650

We are pleased to announce that registration for our upcoming October 27 event, “Drought, Fire and a Changing Climate: Where Do We Go from Here?” is now open! The event will be held at the Blue Goose Event Center in Loomis. We have an excellent program shaping up on topics that are on all of our minds these days.

Admission is $45 for MCWRA members and $55 for non-members. Check-in and networking will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the program starting at 9:15 a.m.

Click here to register and purchase tickets.

Note: If you have any questions about the registration process or if registration level is closed, please email Rayann La France at mcwra.office@gmail.com to be placed on a waiting list. Speakers, sponsors, and special guests will receive an email from Rayann or Jim Branham with a promo code and instructions to register.

We hope to see you on October 27th!

THANK YOU TO OUR 22 EVENT SPONSORS!

Watershed-Level Sponsors ($2,500)

Lake-Level Sponsors ($1,000)

Stream-Level Sponsors ($500)

Contact: Jim Branham
(530) 491-9162
executivedirector.mcwra11@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mountain Counties Water Resources Association Names Executive Director

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 – The Mountain Counties Water Resources Association (MCWRA) Board of Directors has selected Justin Caporusso to serve as the organization’s Executive Director. The selection was made following a widespread recruitment effort to fill the role vacated by John Kingsbury after his retirement earlier this year. Justin will assume his responsibilities on October 1, working closely with Interim Executive Director Jim Branham to ensure a smooth transition.

“We are very pleased that Justin will be serving in this key role for our organization,” Board of Directors Chair Mike Lee (Placer County Water Agency) said. “John Kingsbury did so much to build this organization, and now we are confident Justin will build on that work in leading us into the future.”

Justin is a seasoned public affairs professional with experience in association management, internal and external communications, government relations, stakeholder engagement, and crisis and issues management. With nearly two decades of public affairs and issue advocacy experience, Justin has worked with public and private organizations to develop and execute winning communications strategies that deliver sustained results and effective change.

In addition, Justin brings nearly 15 years of direct experience working with, and on behalf of, California’s rural counties, including recently serving as a Vice President with the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC). During his time with RCRC, Justin served as Chair of the California Forest Watershed Alliance (CAFWA), a diverse coalition of organizations created to promote the restoration and improvement of California’s forested watersheds. Justin will utilize his experience and background to leverage partnerships and engage stakeholders to advance the advocacy and educational efforts of the association.

“As the Sierra Nevada region faces the serious ongoing consequences of drought and severe wildfire, I am looking forward to ensuring MCWRA become an even stronger voice on these key issues and the many others our members face,” Caporusso stated.

MCWRA is a non-profit organization with a mission to “unite agencies, groups, and individuals whose interests include protecting and enhancing mountain county water resources.” MCWRA covers 12 counties in California’s Sierra Nevada region, from Plumas County in the north, to Mariposa County in the south. Members of MCWRA include numerous water agencies and counties, as well as private companies engaged in water and natural resources related activities. Learn more about MCWRA at www.mountaincountieswater.com.

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Click here to download and share a copy of this announcement!

As the California Legislature wound down its 2021 session, lawmakers passed an unprecedented continuous allocation to wildfire prevention and forest health programs. The allocation, found in Senate Bill 155, not only adds an additional $1 billion to forest health programs, but also secures funding previously promised, but not continuously appropriated, in 2018’s Senate Bill 901 (Dodd) through 2023-24. The bill continuously appropriates $200 million annually from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which accrues revenues from the state’s Cap-and-Trade Auction program, through the 2028-29 fiscal year. SB 155 also requires the California Natural Resources Agency to report annually to the Legislature on the use of the funds, including the amount of funding spent on programs and the projects implemented by each program.

RCRC, along with several members of the Legislature and other key stakeholders, has been seeking such an appropriation since SB 901’s passage to secure continuous funding for wildfire mitigation and forest resilience programs. If signed by the Governor, the funding will be dedicated each year without a need for allocation through the annual State Budget package.

Senate Bill 170, known as Budget Bill Jr., also contained substantial funding for a number of forest health and wildfire prevention programs, including:

• $155.3 million to CAL FIRE from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for the Fire Prevention Grants Program, which provides funding for local community fire prevention projects;
• $100 million to CAL FIRE for near-term fire resilience activities;
• $67 million to CAL FIRE for longer term forest health programs, including assistance to non-industrial landowners and funding for the CAL FIRE nursery program to promote reforestation;
• $40 million for CAL FIRE’s Fire Prevention Grants program;
• $50 million to CAL FIRE for urban greening and urban forestry projects;
• $15 million for the California Conservation Corps Forestry Corps program;
• $67.8 million to CAL FIRE for near-term local post-fire recovery and restoration activities, along with forest workforce training and development;
• $19 million to CAL FIRE for tribal forest health grants;
• $20 million to CAL FIRE for a prescribed fire liability pilot program; and
• $61.1 million to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for local assistance grants, which include wildfire prevention, climate resilience, and natural resource protection projects.

The SB 170 funding is additional to the funds approved earlier this year, and brings the total State Budget expenditures on wildfire and forest health to more than $1.5 billion this year.

Click here to see the original post from Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC).

AUGUST 2021

Association of California Water Agencies  (ACWA) and Save Our Water recently partnered with Probolsky Research to conduct a statewide survey on water efficiency/conservation attitudes and behaviors. Click here to see a summary of the poll’s key findings and how it can help your customer outreach.

As you may have seen, Mountain Counties Water Resources Association is pleased to have scheduled an informational forum, “Drought, Fire and a Changing Climate: Where Do We Go from Here?” on October 27 at the Blue Goose Event Center in Loomis. To date, a number of great speakers have agreed to participate, with more to come. These events have become the hallmark of Mountain Counties in recent years and we look forward to once again organizing them, field trips and other activities to ensure the Mountain Counties region’s needs and concerns are understood.

In recent days, we have all no doubt been following the devastating wildfires raging in our region, as well as news about the implications of our ongoing drought. We are excited about this opportunity to bring outstanding speakers together with our members and partners, hearing firsthand on how to best respond to the many challenges we face. It will likewise be an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and partners after a difficult year plus.

These events quite literally wouldn’t be possible without the generous support we have received from our sponsors over the years. We need your help again. Click here to view the sponsorship form with accompanying information regarding the benefits of sponsorship. Please take a look, and if possible, agree to sponsor this event. If you have any questions or would like more information, feel free to contact Jim Branham, Interim General Manger, at (530) 491-9162 or via email at executivedirector.mcwra11@gmail.com.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to seeing you on October 27, 2021!

Sponsorship Form and Information

Sierra Institute for Community and Environment & Sierra Water Workgroup are proud to announce the publication of its new report.

Click the image above to download the report in PDF.

Rural communities suffering from failing infrastructure and low capacity often miss out on important funding opportunities because the methods used by state agencies to determine eligibility are inadequate for rural forested areas.

Pockets of wealth (around a lake shore or golf-course development, for example) raise the median household income (MHI), which can mask the poverty of nearby communities.

Click Here to Download the Infographic

Map of MCFA CalEnviroScreen Scores. Note that there are no high scoring communities in the mountains.

A widely utilized tool, CalEnviroScreen, uses a range of metrics beyond median household income to score communities. Yet, according to this tool, all communities in the Mountain Counties Funding Area (including Paradise and other nearby impoverished areas) “have high scores, (meaning minimally disadvantaged) despite significant challenges from dangerous episodic smoke from wildfires, along with poverty, unemployment, failing infrastructure, fire risk, low political support or representation, and low organizational capacity.”

See Maps

Many of these small communities have limited tax revenues, shrinking populations, and heavy infrastructure burdens—and yet many of the programs that exist to help such communities don’t recognize their need.

Low population means few voters so political representation can also be lackluster.

This important research by Sierra Institute employed a combination of community assessments that avoid the pitfalls of both MHI and CalEnviroScreen. It consisted of a community capacity assessment based on the knowledge of community residents regarding the ability of their communities to tackle internal and external stressors (like wildfire), and a quantitative socioeconomic assessment based on six metrics drawn from U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

Both of these methods have relatively low correlation with simple MHI, with CalEnviroScreen, or with each other, indicating that they represent fundamentally different community attributes.

Wildfire is a very significant threat to most of the Sierra Nevada region, but the study found that many communities lack sufficient water storage, water pressure, and reserve water to fight fires effectively.

Most water service providers don’t have money to hire staff, maintain infrastructure, and keep pace with regulatory requirements—with all this, it isn’t surprising that many have limited capacity to secure outside resources.

Click here to see the Interactive Map

Click here to download the report in PDF

HOLD THE DATE
OCTOBER 27, 2021, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Drought, Fire and a Changing Climate: Where Do We Go from Here?

Blue Goose Event Center
3550 Taylor Rd, Loomis, CA 95650

Tentative Program

Additional speakers may be added to an already great program!

Data Analysis, Modeling and a Look Into the Future
A discussion on the various data driven efforts underway by water agencies assessing the challenges they face serving their communities and customers.

• Willie Whittlesey, General Manager, Yuba Water Agency
• Andy Fecko, General Manager, Placer County Water Agency

Restoring Health and Resilience to Sierra Nevada Forested Watersheds
A discussion describing the efforts underway in California to address the unsustainable state of our forested watersheds.

• Patrick Wright, Director of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force
• Dan Porter, Forest Program Director, The Nature Conservancy

Luncheon Address, TBD

Further information will be provided relative to cost of admission, with MCWRA members receiving a discount. There are also sponsorship opportunities available. Feel free to contact Jim Branham at 530-491-9162 or executivedirector.mcwra11@gmail.com for more information.

Click here to download and share a copy of this announcement!

The following article was originally published on July 2, 2021.

On Monday, The Legislature reduced the original $1 billion allocated to the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Expenditure Package on June 15th in the 2021-22 State Budget to $458 million, a move which came as a surprise to many stakeholders. Since the details of the allocations are still being negotiated, it is unclear which programs will receive funding other than $146 million earmarked for fire prevention crews at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the California Conservation Corps (CCC) and roughly $75 million in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) dollars for prescribed fire and other programs at CAL FIRE. The Legislature’s original $1 billion plan included funding for programs such as the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program at the Department of Conservation and the Watershed Improvement Program at the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, along with local grant funds for community fire prevention projects. The Legislature proposed $500 million in forest health funds for the 2022-23 State Budget; however, those funds cannot be allocated for future budget years on a one-time basis making the future of the proposal subject to next year’s State Budget process.

The Legislature and Administration have received considerable backlash for the cut, and the Administration has since proposed making the remaining $500 million available for wildfire prevention projects on an “as needed” basis. The proposal also would extend the $200 million annual wildfire expenditure from the GGRF pursuant to Senate Bill 901 (Dodd, 2018) through 2028. RCRC continues to advocate for wildfire prevention and forest resilience funding, including the restoration of the $500 million to the 2021-22 State Budget.

Click here to see the original post from Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC).