The Great California Drought This Time, and Next

The Great California Drought This Time, and Next

Featuring Felicia Marcus Chair of the State Water Board

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM

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How has the State Water Resources Control Board Managed Water during this Drought?

What has the Board learned about how to respond to the next Drought? 

Featuring

Felicia Marcus, Chair, State Water Resources Control Board

Felicia Marcus was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) for the State of California in 2012, and designated by the Governor as Chair in April of 2013.The Board implements both federal and state laws regarding drinking water and water quality, and it implements the state’s water rights laws. Before her appointment to the Water Board, Marcus served in positions in government, the non-profit world, and the private sector.In government, Felicia served as the Regional Administrator of the U.S. EPA Region IX in the Clinton Administration. While at USEPA, Felicia worked extensively on the range of environmental issues under EPA’s jurisdiction, most heavily in air quality, Bay-Delta water, tribal, and US-Mexico border issues. Prior to that, Felicia headed Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works at a time when the City went from garnering lawsuits to garnering national awards for environmental excellence. Felicia came to Public Works after extensive experience as a public interest lawyer and community organizer in Los Angeles, including being a co-founder and general counsel for Heal the Bay.In the non-profit world, she was the Western Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a national environmental leader in bringing science, law, and policy expertise to solving our world’s pressing environmental and conservation challenges. Prior to joining NRDC, Felicia was the Executive VP/COO of the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national non-profit devoted to conserving land for people.She is also currently an Obama Administration appointee to the Commission on Environmental Cooperation-Joint Public Advisory Council (US, Mexico, Canada) and was a Schwarzenegger Administration appointee to the Delta Stewardship Council prior to being appointed to the Water Board.

Max Gomberg, Water Conservation Policy Advisor, State Water Resources Control Board

Max Gomberg is the climate change advisor to the State Water Resources Control Board, where he has helped to develop emergency water conservation regulations among other initiatives. He is also a member of the Water-Energy Team of the state’s Climate Action Team (“WETCAT”), and was the lead author for the water section of the AB32 Scoping Plan update. Previously, he worked for the Office of Ratepayer Advocates at the California Public Utilities Commission where he worked on a range of water and energy rate-setting and rulemaking proceedings. He has worked as an investigator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and has served in the Peace Corps as an environmental studies teacher in Nicaragua. In addition, he serves as Chair of the Community Environmental Advisory Commission for the City of Berkeley. Mr. Gomberg holds a Masters degree in Public Policy from UCLA and a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Chicago.

ABOUT THE LECTURE: Since last January, the State Water Board has been working the Governor’s Office and an interagency Drought Task Force to make crucial decisions about how and when to allocate and conserve water resources, including:

Deciding how much surface water is available to State Water Board Contractors and Central Valley Project Contractors through order.

Ordering all diversions by rightsholders established later than 1914, halted.

Overseeing the timing and volume of water released from all of the dams controlled by the SWP andCVP for users all over the state

Protecting the in-stream ecosystems and fish and wildlife

Requiring mandatory conservation for all urban water agencies, and

Requiring increased accountability for the urban water use.

Providing emergency drinking water to communities and schools who depend on water wells that are dry or polluted.

Supporting the development of comprehensive groundwater management legislation

Chair Marcus and Water Conservation Policy Advisor Gomberg will talk about and reflect on what has been accomplished to date, where the State Board was challenged in implementing regulations and what lessons learned will mean for their decisions in the next year of this drought, or the drought next time.

Complimentary Refreshments Following the Lecture

Cosponsored by: UCLA School of Law’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and Environmental Law Society, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, and UCLA Water Technology Research Center

One of a series of lectures and discussions organized by the UCLA Water Resources Working Group to bring together experts on water policy, science, law and technology, to work on interdisciplinary solutions to water sustainability. For more information about the UCLA Water Resources Group visit www.environment.ucla.edu/water.