Region Acceptance Process (RAP):
The region acceptance process is a component of the Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Program Guidelines and will be used to evaluate and accept an IRWM region into the IRWM grant program. It is not a grant funding application, however, acceptance and approval of the composition of an IRWM region into the IRWM grant program will be required before any region can submit an application for IRWM grant funds. DWR has not previously reviewed and accepted any region, therefore, this process applies to all IRWM regions, both existing and developing.
Submittals:
The 46 submittals are available for viewing on this ftp site - RAP submittals.
Fall 2009 Workshops and News Release:
Three workshops were held for the public comment period in September 2009 to receive input on the draft recommendations. The public comment period ended at 5 PM on September 22, 2009.
The news release for the workshops is available for download - [WORD] (63 KB).
The workshop presentation is available for download - [PPT] (1.05 MB).
Draft Recommendations:
The draft region acceptance recommendations are posted on the RAP summary page.
Maps:
Click here to see a map which shows the regions that are recommended for approval or conditional approval [PDF] (2603 kB).
Click here to see a map showing the regions as originally submitted on April 29, 2009 [PDF] (2689 kB).
Public Comments:
The public comment period for the RAP draft recommendations has been closed. The public comments submitted can be viewed on the Public Comments page.
Background: In September 2008, SB 1 (Perata, Stats. 2008, Ch. 1; eff. March 1, 2009) was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. SB1 contains the "Integrated Regional Water Management Planning Act", CWC Sec 10530 et seq. The IRWM Planning Act provides a general definition of an IRWM plan as well as guidance to DWR as to what IRWM program guidelines must contain. CWC Sec 10541(f) states that the guidelines shall include standards for identifying a region for the purposes of developing or modifying an IRWM plan.
At a minimum, a region is defined as a contiguous geographic area encompassing the service areas of multiple local agencies; is defined to maximize the opportunities to integrate water management activities; and effectively integrates water management programs and projects within a hydrologic region defined in the California Water Plan, the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) region, or subdivision or other region specifically identified by DWR (Public Resource Code Sec 75026.(b)(1)).
Schedule: The first RAP spans 2008/2009. The draft RAP document was released in December 2008. It was followed by a 30-day public comment period and two public comment meetings before the release of the final RAP document in March. Submittals were due April 29, 2009 and interviews were completed in mid-July of 2009. Subsequent acceptance recommendations are expected to be posted for public comments in August 2009. Final decisions are anticipated in Fall 2009.
Who Should Submit: Regional Water Management Group (RWMG) - a group of three or more local agencies, at least two of which have statutory authority over water supply or management, as well as those other persons necessary for the development and implementation of a plan (CWC Sec 10539).
RAP Document, Public Meetings, and Workshops
Final RAP Document: [Word] (143 KB) or [PDF] (597 KB)
Final RAP document was released on March 11, 2009. Region materials were submitted April 29th, 2009 by 5 p.m. to the Dept of Water Resources, Conjunctive Water Management Branch, 901 P St Rm 213-A, Sacramento CA 95814.
News Release: [Word] (50 KB) or [PDF] (88 KB)
The release of the final RAP document were followed by two workshops to assist in the preparation of submittal materials - one workshop was held in Southern California and a second workshop in Sacramento. Refer to News Release for dates and location.
Public Meeting Material: [PDF] (321 KB)
Public meetings were held at the end of the public comment period for the draft RAP. The presentation is available for download at the link above.
Submittal Preparation Workshops Presentation: [PDF] (849 KB) Two workshops were held to assist RWMGs in their preparation of the RAP submittals in Sacramento and Los Angeles. A Webcast was made available for the April 2, 2009 workshop through the Cal/EPA Live Webcast site.
Contact: Ralph Svetich at (916)651-9266, rsvetich@water.ca.gov