The California Water Plan Team will provide an overview of the just-released California Water Plan Update 2023 resource management strategies (RMSes). The two-hour virtual webinar will start at 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 18. Advance registration is required. A meeting agenda will be available soon. As part of the California Water Plan continuing core activities, the updated set of RMSes help local agencies and governments manage their water and related resources. Every RMS can be employed as a technique, program, or policy that can meet water-related management needs of a region and the state as a whole.  The RMSes are updated with the California Water Plan every five years.

Sustainable Conservation’s spring 2025 virtual webinar series, "Climate Resilience in Action," kicks off tomorrow, February 20. The discussion will explore how California can rebuild stronger in the face of climate extremes. Climate scientist Dr. Daniel Swain will speak to California’s shifting climate patterns and what recent extreme events tell us about the road ahead. Joining him will be other experts discussing the impacts of wildfires, drought, and floods, and sharing the need for solutions such as groundwater recharge, habitat restoration, and sustainable land and water management. The online event runs from 1:00 to 2:15 p.m. Registration is required and is free.

Working with the State Water Resources Control Board, DWR has developed the Dry Domestic Well Susceptibility Tool, an interactive mapping tool that identifies areas within groundwater basins throughout California that may be prone to water supply shortages in drinking water wells. The tool is housed on the California's Groundwater Live, a website containing the latest information and data on groundwater conditions across the state. To use this tool, visit California's Groundwater Live and click the Dry Domestic Well Susceptibility tab. The California Natural Resources Agency website offers a fact sheet to learn more about this mapping tool, as well as information on DWR’s Dry Well Reporting System.

As part of DWR's technical assistance to groundwater sustainability agencies, other water managers, and the public, DWR actively maintains the SGMA Data Viewer. The SGMA Data Viewer is an interactive mapping tool that provides access to groundwater-related datasets for the purpose of supporting groundwater sustainability plan development and implementation. Recent improvements to the mapping tool include the addition of a Basin Characterization tab that displays maps and datasets related to DWR’s Basin Characterization Program. Other improvements feature a variety of new maps, including an AEM Surficial Recharge Map, the locations of San Joaquin Basin Fluvial Fans, and a USGS Basement (elevation) map, among others.

The Western States Water Council’s (WSWC’s) Western Data Exchange (WaDE) program will roll out two major updates this year. The Western States Water Data Access and Analysis Tool (WestDAAT) will showcase two additional water data formats: administrative and regulatory overlay information, and site-specific timeseries information related to historical reservoir and groundwater pumping, and historical withdrawals related to water rights. The WSWC is also developing a new  Western Water Conservation Application Tool (WestCAT) that will streamline operations for in-state and temporary water conservation programs. WestCAT will support a variety of different communities in identifying opportunities for conservation measures, such as full-season fallowing, alternative irrigation strategies, and crop switching.