GROUNDWATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION
o f C a l i f o r n i a
Groundwater Issues and Water Management –
Strategies Addressing Challenges of Sustainability and Drought in California
March 4-5, 2014
Lions Gate Hotel at McClellan Park
3410 Westover Street, Sacramento, CA 95652
A Groundwater Resources Association of California Conference
Organized in Cooperation with USCID
The U.S. Society for Irrigation and Drainage Professionals
Deadline for Hotel Reservations at GRA Rate Extended to February 14th.
Refreshment Sponsor: Hopkins Groundwater Consultants, Inc.
Program Agenda — http://www.grac.org/giwm-agenda.pdf
Attendee / Speaker Registration — http://www.grac.org/giwm-reg
Sponsor / Exhibitor Registration — http://www.grac.org/giwm-reg-se
Sponsor / Exhibitor Information — http://www.grac.org/se.doc
Don’t Miss Out, Sign up today to Reserve your Spot!! The co-located USCID and GRA Conferences provide a unique opportunity for attendees to access simultaneously the technical and policy challenges facing groundwater resources in California. Attendees will benefit from a great line up of speakers including Dr. Jay Lund presenting at an optional dinner the evening of March 5th.
About the Conference
The last few decades have seen mounting water management challenges, particularly those associated with increased reliance on groundwater resources throughout the West. This growing reliance on groundwater is due largely to the expansion of permanent crops, more intensive irrigation practices, increased urban and environmental competition for water supplies, and reduced surface-water supplies due to drought and increasing regulatory restrictions. Coupled with overdraft, land subsidence and other ongoing issues associated with groundwater use, this increased reliance on groundwater resources heightens the concern over the long-term sustainability of the resource.
GRA, in cooperation with the United States Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (USCID), a nonprofit international professional society that aims to foster sustainable, socially acceptable and environmentally responsible irrigation, drainage and flood control systems and practices for providing food, clothing and shelter to the people of the United States and the World, are organizing two co-located USCID and GRA Conferences that provide a unique opportunity for attendees to access simultaneously the technical and policy challenges facing groundwater resources.
These Conferences will address a wide range of issues that are linked to groundwater resources and management challenges, including the interaction between surface water and groundwater, groundwater banking and conjunctive use, the continued investment in water resources infrastructure and modern irrigation technologies, meeting water quality objectives, and managing floodwaters for beneficial use.
For information about the USCID Conference go to http://www.uscid.org/14caconf.html.
Who Should Attend?
The co-located Conference will provide an ideal forum for irrigation districts, academia, consultants, regulators, and federal, state and municipal water managers to learn about new ideas and technologies available to deal with the issues related to the challenges of groundwater resources and water management in California and throughout the West. The Sacramento setting provides an excellent opportunity to share these ideas, given its history as the center of state government, proximity to extensive irrigated lands and an abundance of water resources quantity and quality challenges.
Conference Format & Agenda
A half-day field tour on Tuesday morning (March 4, 2014) will be followed by lunch and joint USCID/GRA Plenary Sessions featuring a wide range of presentations. Presentations during concurrent USCID and GRA Technical Sessions and a Poster Session will occur on Wednesday, March 5, 2014. Participants at the USCID and GRA Conferences may attend the Wednesday concurrent Technical Sessions of either organization. USCID will continue Conference activities on Thursday and Friday (March 6 and 7). Friday, March 7 includes a day-long study tour of Sacramento-area water activities. Each organization is independently administering their Conference. GRA participants that desire to stay for the Thursday sessions and/or the Friday field trip will have the opportunity to purchase registration for the additional day, or days, from USCID.
Day 1, Tuesday, March 4: Field Tour
This half-day field trip will visit the Sacramento Regional Water Authority, for presentations on ground water issues. The return will feature a drive past Folsom Dam, providing a view of the new spillway and facilities.
Day 1, Tuesday, March 4: Plenary Session – USCID
Irrigation stakeholders will discuss California’s current debate over facilities and ecosystem investments that are critical to long-term surface and groundwater reliability and sustainability.
Day 1, Tuesday, March 4: Plenary Session – GRA
• Overdraft, Safe Yield, and Sustainable Yield: Lessons from Central Valley Groundwater Basin
• Water, Salt, and Nitrate Movement on a Large Scale for California’s Central Valley
• Groundwater Management in the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon and California: Balancing the Benefits of Groundwater for Agriculture and Wildlife
Day 2, Wednesday, March 5: Concurrent Session 1A – Groundwater Management
• A Local Approach to Groundwater Management in Sacramento County
• Lassen County Basin Management Objectives – A Collaborative Groundwater Ordinance
• Sustainable Water Supplies – How Groundwater fits into the “Sustainability” Picture
Day 2, Wednesday, March 5: Concurrent Session 1B – Colorado River
• Soil and Groundwater Salinity Management for Floodplain Riparian Restoration on the Lower Colorado River
• The Proposed Colorado River Accounting Surface – An Example of the Challenge and Limitations of Regulation Based on Surface-Groundwater Interaction
Day 2, Wednesday, March 5: Concurrent Session 2A – Groundwater Banking
• Yes, Geology is Important! – How Faults, Folds and a Creek Created Challenges for the Las Posas Basin Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project
• Modeling Tools for the Evaluation of Groundwater Management Alternatives to Increase Summer Baseflow in the Scott River, Klamath Basin
• Sacramento Valley Groundwater Substitution Transfers – Evaluating Impacts to Surface Water
Day 2, Wednesday, March 5: Concurrent Session 2B – Water Quality Management
• Water Well Asset Management Programs: A New Sustainable Approach to Maintaining Well Performance and Water Quality
• Local Agency Responsibilities for Causation of Groundwater Contamination
• Point-of-Use Devices and Liability of Water Providers
Day 2, Wednesday, March 5: Concurrent Session 3A – Groundwater/Surface Water Interaction
• Hydrologic Effects of the Kern River Flow and Municipal Water Program
• Coordinated Use of a Regional Groundwater Model and an Agricultural Economic Production Model to Assess Impacts of Water Policy
• Using Pareto Optimization to Determine Model Predictive Uncertainty of Groundwater and Surface-Water Interaction for the San Joaquin River
Day 2, Wednesday, March 5: Concurrent Session 3B – Water Quality & Technology
• Drainage Channels Remobilize Selenium, Swamp of the Frogs, Newport Bay Watershed, Orange County, California
• Use of Tracers and Laser Induced Fluorescence to Determine Flow Conditions During Low Flow Purging and Sampling and Ambient Conditions with Grab Samplers
• Improving the Sustainability of Cleanups Through Conservation and Reuse of Groundwater: A SURF Initiative
Day 2, Wednesday, March 5: Concurrent Session 4A – Groundwater Management and Policy
• Down the Rabbit Hole: California’s Alice-in-Wonderland
• The Influence of Climate Uncertainty on Methods Intended to Protect and Restore Sensitive and Critical Water Resources
• Using Modern Tools to Re-Estimate the Sustainable Yield from a Coastal Groundwater Basin
Day 2, Wednesday, March 5: Concurrent Session 4B – Salts and Nutrients
• Nitrogen in Recycled Water: Threat to Groundwater Quality?
• Considering Local Hydrogeologic Conditions and Regulatory Requirements of California’s Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program
• Development of Salt and Nutrient Management Plans in the San Diego Region – A Collaborative Stakeholder Process
Full Program Agenda — http://www.grac.org/giwm-agenda.pdf
Attendee / Speaker Registration — http://www.grac.org/giwm-reg
Hotel Information
Lions Gate Hotel at McClellan Park
3410 Westover Street
Sacramento, California, 95652
Phone: 866-258-5651
Web: http://www.lionsgatehotel.com
ROOM RESERVATIONS
The Conference rate is $92 single or double, plus tax. To make reservations, call the Hotel directly at 866-258-5651 and ask for the special Groundwater Resource Association rate. The room rate is available until February 14, 2014, or until the GRA block is sold out, whichever comes first.
Ride SuperShuttle to and from Sacramento Airport $13.00 each way on a shared ride round trip, reservation required — http://www.grac.org/giwm-shuttle.pdf
Sponsors and Exhibitors
On Tuesday and Wednesday (March 4-5, 2014), a joint GRA and USCID Exhibition will feature a variety of companies providing products and services related to water resources. If you are interested in exhibiting your organization’s services or products, or being an event sponsor, please contact Sarah Kline (skline@grac.org, 916-446-3626).
Exhibitors:
Accutest Laboratories, Inc.
Cascade Drilling
EnviroTech Services
Kleinfelder
Penda Form Corp
Sponsor / Exhibitor Information — http://www.grac.org/se.doc
Sponsor / Exhibitor Registration — http://www.grac.org/giwm-reg-se
Exhibition Floor Plan — http://www.uscid.org/14cafloorplan.html
Additional information
Contact Chris Petersen (cpetersen@westyost.com; 530-792-3239), Steve Phillips (sphillip@usgs.gov; 916-278-3002) or Vicki Kretsinger Grabert (vkretsinger@lsce.com; 530-661-0109).
GRA is dedicated to resource management that protects and improves groundwater
supply and quality through education and technical leadership.
1215 K Street, Ste 940 * Sacramento, CA 95814 * Ph: 916-446-3626 * Fx: 916-231-2141 * www.grac.org
