DWR has released the final California’s Groundwater: Bulletin 118 – Update 2025 (CalGW Update 2025). CalGW Update 2025 provides a comprehensive inventory and assessment of available information on the occurrence and nature of groundwater and informs decisions on the protection, use, monitoring, and management of the resource. This five-year update builds on the CalGW Update 2020 by integrating data submitted to DWR by local agencies under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. A factsheet on the CalGW Update 2025 is available in English and Spanish. A three-page overview describing the structure and key content of CalGW Update 2025 and a Key Topics Index for the report is also available. To learn more about CalGW Update 2025, visit DWR’s Bulletin 118 webpage.

The 2026 Biennial Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge (BSMAR19) will take place Tuesday, March 31, through Thursday, April 2, in Sacramento. Themed “Building Resiliency with MAR: Convey, Store and Deliver,” this event, now in its 19th year, is the leading forum for groundwater recharge innovation. This year’s keynote speaker will be DWR Director Karla Nemeth. The symposium will feature two full days of presentations, workshops, and poster sessions by leading MAR experts, plus exhibitor and networking opportunities, followed by an optional half-day field trip on April 2 to an agricultural-MAR project just outside of Sacramento. See the agenda for more information. Registration is open now.

The Water Education Foundation (WEF) will offer its annual workshop on Thursday, March 26, at the Harper Alumni Center on the campus of California State University, Sacramento. Joel Metzger, DWR Deputy Director, Statewide Water Resources Planning and Enterprise Project Management, is this year’s keynote speaker. He will speak about DWR’s target of identifying 9 million acre-feet of water supply by 2040. The daylong workshop offers an opportunity to learn about California water basics and current topics in water resources history, geography, management, tribal and groundwater rights in California, water use and demand, State law, and politics. See the agenda for more information on workshop topics offered. The all-day event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also available the following day is an optional watershed tour that offers a journey from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, along the American River, and into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. More information about the workshop and the watershed tour is available online. Registration is open now.

Governor Newsom’s website reports that the State’s “Cutting the Green Tape” initiative, well into its fourth year, is speeding up environmental restoration by reducing permitting delays and costs. The initiative improves regulatory processes and policies so that ecological restoration and stewardship can occur more quickly, simply, and cost-effectively. An article published this month on the governor’s website highlights CDFW’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-2025 Report to the Legislature. To date, CNRA has aided 500+ restoration projects, restoring approximately 300,000 acres, reconnecting 5.5 million acres, and improving more than 700 miles of streams, with an average permitting time of 42 days. This fast-track restoration work has saved projects more than $12 million over the past four years. State leaders plan to expand efforts further by continuing to cut permitting delays.