Early in June in Redlands, in partnership with the Sonoran Institute, WELL hosted the second California Growing Water Smart (GWS) workshop. This initiative introduces cities to a full range of tools for communications, public engagement, planning, and policy implementation to help them discover the status of their watershed health and set community resiliency goals. California communities can best learn to integrate land use and water planning through collaborative efforts.
This WELL/Sonoran Institute partnership brings together the expertise and resources of two leading organizations as experts in water conservation and education. The aim is to aid participating California city leaders in creating a comprehensive water management program that will address water resource challenges in their municipalities. The program provides insight into critical gaps in planning efforts as participants assess community data, trends, and existing policies that will aid in identifying strategies for becoming water resilient. This will then lead to the development of a common set of data and growth projections that local governments and service providers can use to inform planning efforts.
Through this collaboration, the Sonoran Institute and WELL were able to provide a cost-free workshop to participating city teams from Colton, San Bernardino, Redlands, Rialto, and Pico Rivera. Additionally, three WELLos participated as facilitators: Gene Hernandez, Former Mayor, City of Yorba Linda, and WELL UnTapped Fellowship Graduate, Class of 2018; Igor Tregub, Councilmember, City of Berkeley, and WELL UnTapped Fellowship Graduate, Class of 2020; Alvaro Preciado, Mayor, City of Avenal, and WELL UnTapped Fellowship Graduate, Class of 2019.
WELL would like to express special thanks to the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District for its support of this workshop. To learn more about the Growing Water Smart Workshops click here. https://www.lincolninst.edu/babbitt-center-land-water-policy/growing-water-smart