A Watershed Moment

30 years of making California more sustainable for everyone

Dwindling aquifers. Year-round wildfire risk. Degraded ecosystems. Drinking water insecurity. California’s resource constraints only become clearer, and more fraught, the more our climate changes. But it can be overwhelming to understand how we even currently use water in the state, much less how we can manage it for the future.

This fall is an exciting opportunity for you to join our Watershed Moment and learn how all our work advances water problem-solving in California.

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Why Sustainable Conservation?

Sustainable Conservation has three decades of proven problem-solving experience, and our approach is our greatest asset. We engage with farmers on the ground because working lands are where we use, and impact, most of our water. We use the best available science, creativity, and patience to meet challenges. We convene broad coalitions with on-the-ground expertise, because we know we must scale our climate resilience in ways that last.

Water is our touchstone, and this is our watershed moment.

“Rivers have a life cycle. They expand and contract, and floodplains are a critical part of their health and resilience. We can recharge groundwater, reduce flood risk for communities, improve ecosystems, protect our critical drinking water resources, and create a suite of powerful, adaptive strategies to weather droughts and deluges.”

—Aysha Massell
Water for the Future Program Director, Sustainable Conservation

“I find GRAT^TM inspiring because it uses technology to burn in equity in the preservation of precious groundwater for the benefit of farmers, jobs, and the health of local, rural communities through safer drinking water. GRAT allows water managers to do their work and make investments with transparency, and it allows stakeholders to understand the natural conditions that define choices in the art of groundwater recharge.”

—Adán Ortega
Principal, Ortega Strategies Group; Sustainable Conservation Board Member

“We’re racing against time with our climate. The Merced study taught us a lot about the opportunities that come when managing at a watershed scale. For the San Joaquin Valley watershed studies, we will develop tools including GRAT^TM in partnership with agencies, within individual watersheds, for their planning needs.”

—Ajay Goyal
Manager of the Statewide Infrastructure Investigations Branch, California Department of Water Resources (DWR)

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