Conference Agenda

Augmentation of water supply forms a foundational motivation for many groundwater projects. This panel will focus on the incentives and context for supply-oriented groundwater projects, with special attention to regulatory frameworks, water rights and groundwater governance issues, and questions about securing public acceptance and support.

Examples highlighted: Orange County, CA; Bear Canyon, NM; Sand Hollow, UT; San Antonio, TX

Moderator: Anita Milman (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Panelists:

• Diane Agnew (Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority)
• Adam Hutchinson (Orange County Water District)
• Robert Puente (San Antonio Water System)

Groundwater banking motivates recharge through the expectation that those recharging water into an aquifer will have the right and ability to withdraw it later, either for their own use or for use by others. This panel will examine groundwater banking, including its potential use in managing interannual variability, as an incentive for MAR. It will also examine accounting methods and challenges (e.g., monitoring, tracking, and crediting water for later withdrawal), and water rights concerns (including beneficial use, rights of recovery, etc.).

Examples highlighted: Arizona Groundwater Bank and others

Moderator: Rita Maguire (Maguire, Pearce & Storey, PLLC)

Panelists:

• Tom Buschatzke (Chair, Arizona Water Bank and Director, Arizona Department of Water Resources)
• Cynthia Campbell (City of Phoenix)
• Ellen Hanak (Public Policy Institute of California)

Many MAR projects are motivated by frameworks that enable recharge to be used as a tool to reduce the impacts of groundwater use on interconnected surface supplies. This panel will review such schemes, and also focus on related context including aspects of water rights and water accounting that bear strongly on these approaches.

Examples highlighted: Eastern Snake Plains Aquifer, ID; Central Colorado Water District, CO; Yakima Valley, WA

Moderator: John Tracy (Texas Water Resources Institute)

Panelists:

• Tom Cech (Metropolitan State University of Denver – South Platte River and general Colorado recharge programs)
• Wesley Hipke (Eastern Snake Recharge Program Manager)
• Jennifer Johnson (Reclamation PNW Region – Yakima Valley)

Innovative incentives for MAR are emerging to meet recognized needs for recharge where more established approaches do not apply well in local contexts or where there are synergies between non-groundwater concerns and recharge. This section will briefly highlight unique MAR projects and programs from across the country that have the potential to seed new approaches in other areas.

Examples highlighted: Recharge Net Metering, Pajaro Valley, CA; Flood-MAR, CA; SWIFT, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, VA; Ducks Unlimited, CO

Presenters:

• Andrew Fisher (University of California, Santa Cruz)
• Don Cameron (Terranova Ranch)
• Ted Henifin (Hampton Roads Sanitation District)
• Jason Roudebush (Ducks Unlimited)

Clear contrasts exist among the diverse motivations and mechanisms for MAR implementation, but parallels and common themes also exist. This panel discussion will reflect upon the prior sessions, drawing out commonalities across disparate MAR projects and building on observations from previous presenters. Potential themes could include: differences between institutionally centralized MAR and projects involving private landowners; motivations of private citizens to engage in recharge; risks to private citizens and public institutions; monitoring, accounting and tracking; water quantity and quality co-benefits; and other transferable lessons.

Moderator: Mike Kiparsky (Center for Law, Energy & the Environment)

Panelists:

• Bill Blomquist (University of Indiana)
• Felicia Marcus (former Chair, California State Water Resources Control Board)
• Dave Owen (University of California, Hastings College of Law)