Workgroups

Workgroups were established by the Regional Water Management Group to focus discussions and make resource management and project recommendations for four areas of long-term interest within the Upper Feather River IRWM region: agricultural land stewardship, uplands and forest management, floodplain and meadow and waterbodies management, and municipal services.

Those interested in participating in the collaborative development of the Upper Feather River IRWM Plan Update were encouraged to become involved in the Workgroups. Workgroup members provided recommendations to the Upper Feather River Regional Water Management Group on the California Water Plan’s identified resource management strategies; provided input on project selection and prioritization criteria; provided comments on draft Plan chapters; and attended Workgroup meetings, IRWM workshops, and Regional Water Management Group meetings.

Workgroup meeting documents are available here. The following provides a summary and focus of each of the Workgroups:

Agricultural Land Stewardship

The Agricultural Land Stewardship Workgroup addressed topics including: irrigated lands, water quality issues, agricultural water supply reliability, and agricultural water use efficiency.

Uplands and Forest Management

The Uplands and Forest Management Workgroup addressed topics including: water pollution prevention (from wildfires, roads), watershed management (forest-water interactions), forest ecosystem restoration, upland recharge-area protection, flood risk reduction (through wildfire risk reduction), precipitation enhancement (better groundwater infiltration and less evapotranspiration through forest stand density reduction), etc.

Floodplain and Meadow and Waterbodies Management

The Floodplain, Meadow and Waterbodies Workgroup addressed topics including: recharge area protection, flood risk management, pollution prevention, ecosystem restoration, conjunctive management and groundwater.

Municipal Services

The Municipal Services Workgroup addressed topics including: recycled municipal water, urban water use efficiency, groundwater and surface water pollution prevention, water system reoperation, drinking water treatment and distribution, and perhaps groundwater and aquifer remediation, urban runoff management, and matching water quality to use.

Tribal Advisory Committee

The Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) addressed cultural and environmental issues that cross all workgroup categories, and includes topics such as applying Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) toward restoration and stewardship.