In addition to my regular Board commitments I serve as a board member on the Mountain Counties Water Resources Association (MCWRA). On June 26 through June 28^, we hosted a California United Water Conference here in Auburn.

Among the conference attendees were the director of water and natural resources from East Bay Municipal Utilities District and the assistant general manager of the United Water Conservation District who spoke on the challenges of small urban water districts in Southern California. Also in attendance were Ed Smith, regional ecologist for the Nature Conservancy, a Director from Mesa Water District (Orange County), the Board Chair of the Urban Water District, as well as two PH.D’s from UC Merced who provided current and historical information regarding the health of our watersheds.

Thursday was a busy day with participants attending a bus tour to Foresthill and beyond, stopping at the Foresthill Veterans Hall where Marie Davis, geologist and consultant to Placer County Water Agency, spoke about the relationship between resilient headwaters and water reliability in California. Angie Avery, executive officer of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC), spoke about SNC’s Sierra Nevada Watershed Improvement Program. Hank White, general manager of Foresthill Public Utility District, spoke about the long-term challenges of providing reliable local water storage, while enhancing our downstream water supply and environmental benefits.

From there the tour took us to Sugar Pine Dam, and at noon we enjoyed lunch at one of the campsites while Martha Conklin, Ph.D. and Roger Bales, Ph.D. (UC Merced) spoke to us about science-based watershed perspectives. From there we moved on to tour the site of the 2013 American Fire where again Marie Davis spoke about the terrible impact of a catastrophic wildfire on the watershed.  Our tour ended in the canyon at the confluence of the North and Middle forks of the American River.

Thursday evening the dinner speaker was former supervisor and now director of the Governor‘s Forest Management Task Force, Jennifer Montgomery, who gave a comprehensive update on the activities of the task force.

The California United Water conference was a collaboration of local and statewide decision makers coming together to understand each entities challenges and to work together to protect our valuable water resources throughout the State of California.