We believe that sharing our own first-person narratives is a powerful way to highlight the critical importance of engaging neglected constituencies, fostering creative partnerships and developing innovative funding mechanisms for water management in California.<\/p>\n Stories illustrate opportunities to improve water policies<\/strong><\/p>\n My colleagues\u2019 stories touched on such issues as educating the general public to increase understanding of the complex water system and individual water bills; providing safe, clean drinking water to all Californians; and finding a path for working agricultural landowners and managers to support critical habitat for wildlife and fish.<\/p>\n Collectively, our stories helped us identify four desired outcomes of effective water stewardship: integration, equity, resilience and health. Several stories, including mine, also emphasized trust and transparency, which we recommend the governor make the foundation of his water policies.We need trust and transparency to create a healthier and more resilient water future for California. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n My perspective growing up in a flood zone<\/strong><\/p>\n My own story focused on the role that landowner incentives can play to achieve multi-benefit solutions, generating a winning trifecta<\/a> of growing crops, managing floods and creating habitat.<\/p>\n Growing up in a rural part of the Central Valley, I experienced firsthand the extremes of the state\u2019s variable climate, and how winter rain storms would flood roads and neighbors\u2019 homes. Local flood control agencies would conduct maintenance and operation on a regular basis, but in a silo and largely to meet a singular need, independent of local farmers and the environment.<\/p>\n An exciting turning point came a couple years ago, when local flood control leaders in the Sacramento Valley agreed to work with nonprofit organizations, regulators and local landowners to explore a new approach to help better meet the needs of farmers and the environment.<\/p>\n Opening a new door for landowners<\/strong><\/p>\n This approach tapped into the California Department of Fish and Wildlife\u2019s Regional Conservation Investment Strategies (RCIS) program<\/a>, created by a new law in 2016.<\/p>\n The RCIS process brings together diverse stakeholders to create a common regional vision and identify conservation and habitat restoration to help vulnerable wildlife. It has opened the door to compensate landowners for creating large areas of connected habitat through the use of mitigation credits, which state and other agencies often must purchase to mitigate the environmental impact of large infrastructure projects, including for flood control, to comply with state laws.<\/p>\n As a result of this RCIS process, landowners are slated to create more than 1,000 acres of habitat for wildlife as well as more effective flood management in the Sacramento Valley by early next fall.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/11\/water-stories.png\")
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