Tag Archives: Water Management

ECOS Continued Participation on the Water Forum

February 17, 2026

ECOS is joining with 40 organizations throughout the region to help shape the reliability of region’s water supplies while protecting and enhancing of the Lower American River.

ECOS has been a member of the Water Forum for 26 years. During this time, ECOS, other environmental organizations, business and community leaders, and the region’s water purveyors have worked together to ensure the region has a reliable and safe water supply while preserving the fishery, wildlife, recreational, and aesthetic values of the lower American River. Six years ago, the Water Forum realized that climate change and increased demands for water necessitated a review and modernization of the original Water Forum Agreement. ECOS has participated in the technical work and discussions that have led to the new Water Forum Agreement 2050. This new Agreement, which spans the next 25 years, includes the implementation of the American River Climate Adaptation Program, as well as, Purveyor Specific Agreements which outline how the 13 participating water agencies will manage supplies and operate systems to best support the Agreement’s coequal objectives of reliable regional water supply and protection of the Lower American River. The new Agreement also has five key programs including one that focuses on improving American River corridor Health by building habitat and managing the lower American river corridor through adaptive management. View the video below for more information about the Water Forum Agreement 2050.

Watershed Resilience Pilot Project presentation, Nov 25

Speaker: Jim Peifer Executive Director, Regional Water Authority

The Watershed Resilience Pilot Project, which is being funded by a grant from the Department of Water Resources, is an initiative that evaluates the impacts of Climate Change and identifies strategies to adapt to those impacts. The Pilot examines nine interconnected systems that are affected by climate and weather: ecosystem, flood management, groundwater supply, hydropower, surface water supply, agriculture, recreation, water quality, and community and equity. The focus is on strategies that benefit multiple systems at once and that address the most vulnerable assets and communities. To learn more about the Pilot, click this link: https://rwawatershedsresilience.com/

This is an opportunity for our members to learn how our ideas on climate adaptation can be included in the Watershed Resilience Pilot Project study and even share them with Jim at the meeting.

To hear the presentation, please join us at our November ECOS Board meeting today, Tuesday, November 25, 2025, on Zoom. The presentation is scheduled to start at 7pm.

Click here for the agenda.

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155

ECOS Comments on scope and content of the EIR for the RiverArc Project

On May 23, 2025, ECOS submitted a letter containing our comments on the scope and content of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the RiverArc Project.

Below is an excerpt.

Given the critical importance of developing a sustainable water supply under increasingly unpredictable environmental conditions, we support improving regional water resource coordination through such coalitions as the Water Forum. ECOS Water Committee supports the concept of environmental benefits to the Lower American River intended through implementation of this project.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Harvest Water Talk with ECOS Water Committee, 4/8/2025

Please join the ECOS Water Committee on April 8, 2025 at 5:30 pm over zoom for a special guest presentation and discussion about the Harvest Water Program. Jofil Borja, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Manager, and John Nurmi, Senior Civil Engineer, of the Sacramento Area Sewer District, will be presenting this deep dive into a large, local infrastructure project. Harvest Water will bring high quality recycled water (tertiary treated recycled water from the EchoWater Resource Recovery Facility) to the southern portion of Sacramento County for use in irrigating agricultural and existing habitat lands.

The project represents a long-term solution for future drought conditions by reducing the pressure on local groundwater aquifer stores by up to 50,000 acre feet per year, equivalent to 16 billion gallons per year, which is equivalent to roughly 2000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Harvest Water is currently under construction and is anticipated to be operational in 2027. By reducing the amount of groundwater pumped by farmers, it is anticipated that the groundwater aquifer can be restored to historic levels. This would bring a number of ecosystem benefits to the region including improvements in riparian and wetland habitat and increased streamflows in the Consumnes River. These benefits will enhance the habitats of various listed species including Sandhill crane, Swainson’s hawk, and fall-run Chinook salmon.

More info

Harvest Water Website
Harvest Water Ecosystem Benefits

To join the meeting

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155

Accounting System for the Regional Water Bank

On August 3, 2023, ECOS submitted a letter to the Regional Water Authority to suggest a meeting to discuss efforts to develop an Accounting System for the Regional Water Bank. Below is an excerpt.

We are interested in learning about how effective the 2012 Accounting Framework was in tracking and accounting for groundwater transactions within the bank, and which aspects of the 2012 Framework may be included in the new Regional Water Bank Accounting Framework currently in development. We are also interested in discussing how the requirements of SGMA will be incorporated in the Framework. Also, we suspect that the expanded monitoring and modeling of both the North and South American subbasins has provided additional sophistication and understanding of how groundwater moves within and between these subbasins. We would like to hear your plans for including this added technical understanding of subbasin operations into the accounting framework. We would also like to learn how you plan to account for any deposited ground water losses, and ideas you are considering regarding the use of portions of deposits to address groundwater dependent ecosystem needs, and, as a set asides to improve basin storage. Finally, the 2012 framework seemed to establish pumping levels for participants tied to water years. Is this approach one you are considering going forward, and would any resulting pumping agreements be included in Individual Purveyor Agreements established as part of the Water Forum 2 process?

Click here to read the letter (PDF).