Don Cameron’s Helm (Fresno County) vineyard with floodwater for groundwater recharge. Photo by Paolo Vescia
Media Contact: Eric Epstein, Communications Associate, 415-977-0380 x806 [email protected]
ANOTHER YEAR OF DELUGE: CHALLENGES AND POTENTIAL PRESENTED BY THE 2024 WET SEASON
Adapting to Climate Change
Once again, California is experiencing intense atmospheric rivers that fill our reservoirs and temporarily quench drought but also lead to flooding, community hazards, and environmental devastation.
As California’s climate evolves, so do precipitation patterns and water systems. A Berkeley study estimates that atmospheric rivers in the Western U.S. expand by 15% in size and 6 hours in duration with every 1-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures. Furthermore, our snowpack – historically up to one-third of our water supply – dwindles as more precipitation falls as rain instead of snow at higher elevations. The state’s water infrastructure, designed in the 20th century for predictable rainfall and snowmelt, struggles to manage the increased intensity of these atmospheric rivers, leading to greater reliance on groundwater aquifers. This results in sinking lands, reduced river flows, and water insecurity for over one million Californians, impacting fish, wildlife, and communities.
So, how do we protect communities and pursue a sustainable water future in 2024? The answer lies in our ability to manage peak flood flows from these storms effectively. By capturing and storing floodwaters in floodplains, basins, and farmland, we facilitate groundwater recharge and deliver vital ecosystem benefits — while simultaneously reducing flood risk for communities.
Recharge in action! The video shows water being diverted from a canal to Christine Gemperle’s orchards for recharge. Photo by Sustainable Conservation
Our Approach
Sustainable Conservation has over a decade of experience testing, siting, and scaling groundwater recharge and flood management solutions in California. From individual farmer fields to collaborative statewide studies to tailored software solutions, we’ve worked with growers, irrigation districts, water managers, UC researchers, consultants, agencies, and policymakers to make groundwater recharge an adaptable and powerful part of our drought resilience solutions portfolio.
We can keep scaling this work to make sure the next time water comes, even more farmers, irrigation districts, floodplains, and basins will be ready to recharge our thirsty aquifers – which have at least three times the storage capacity as our above-ground reservoirs.
Our Track Record
We began in 2011 with one Fresno County farmer who diverted flood water over his vineyards to refill the aquifer under his land. We’ve grown this work into our flagship Water for the Future program that drives integrated water management planning, implementation, research, and policy.
2011: With pioneering Fresno County farmer Don Cameron, tested a unique method for replenishing our underground water savings account: applying seasonal flood water to farmland.
2016: Developed a software tool (Groundwater Recharge Assessment Tool, aka GRAT™) in partnership with the Earth Genome to maximize groundwater recharge in regions suffering the most from depleted aquifers.
2017: Partnered with the California Department of Water Resources on a statewide strategy for recharge (Flood-Managed Aquifer Recharge, aka Flood-MAR) on diverse landscapes with multiple environmental benefits.
2017: Implemented operational GRAT™ in Madera Irrigation District with 107 farmers to recharge 4,000 acre-feet of water during winter and fall water seasons.
2019: Grew operational GRAT™ in Madera Irrigation District to 379 farmers recharging 10,700 acre-feet of water during winter and fall water seasons.
2021: Released guidance resources that help growers, water planners, and communities protect drinking water quality while replenishing aquifers.
2022: Completed Merced River Watershed modeling study with the California Department of Water Resources to demonstrate the integration of flood and groundwater management on a watershed scale.
2022: Implemented operational GRAT™ in Turlock sub-basin to support two Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) and four irrigation districts to coordinate integrated water management decisions and multi-benefit project planning.
2023: Collaborated with recharge partners to inform the development and implementation of Executive Order N-4-23, which strives to establish new permitting pathways for groundwater recharge efforts to address groundwater overdraft while ensuring public safety and environmental protection.
2023: Sustainable Conservation partners recharged three times more groundwater in 2023 than any other year. Thanks in part to our work with willing partners, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) reported that Californians recharged enough water for 11 million homes this year alone.
Meet Our Experts
For general press inquiries, contact Eric Epstein at 415-977-0380 x806 or [email protected]
Our experts are excited to share their work with you! Contact us for an interview and for more information on California water management.
Ashley has directed the strategy, growth and operations of Sustainable Conservation since 1997. Ashley received a 2007 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award for her unwavering commitment to innovative, balanced problem-solving to address a variety of critical environmental problems facing California.
Prior to Sustainable Conservation, Ashley spent eight years at Smith & Hawken, a mail-order and retail gardening company, where she worked in finance, new business development, inventory planning and retail merchandising. She began her career at The Nature Conservancy in program development and fundraising.
Ashley serves on the Board of CalTrout and on the Presidents Advisory Commission for UC California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She served on California’s State Board of Food & Agriculture from 2006 to 2022 advising Governors Schwarzenegger, Brown and Newsom and Secretaries of Agriculture Kawamura and Ross on issues of food, agriculture and natural resources. She also served on the Board of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation from 2002 to 2011 (the last two years as Chair), on Stanford Business School’s Alumni Consulting Team Board from 1995 to 2002 (the last three years as Chair), and Executive Committee of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute’s External Advisory Board at UC Davis from 2008-2018.
Ashley has a BA in human biology, an MA in applied economics and an MBA from Stanford University.
Charles spent a decade with the State Water Resources Control Board, serving as Assistant Legislative Director since 2013. In that time, he worked with multiple Governors and the State Legislature to enact major policy initiatives in the provision of safe and affordable drinking water, groundwater management, drought response, stewardship of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, fracking oversight, passage of multiple water bonds, and many other issues.
Charles holds a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration from California State University Sacramento, and a Bachelor’s in Integral Liberal Arts from Saint Mary’s College of California. He lives in Sacramento. In his free time, he can usually be found along stretches of California coastline from Point Reyes to Morro Bay, on the Sacramento River, or in one of the state’s many baseball parks.
Aysha has over 20 years of experience working in sustainable agriculture, water reuse systems, and river restoration. Prior to Sustainable Conservation, Aysha served as the Director of California Integrated Water Systems for American Rivers, where she collaborated with agencies, farmers, and partner NGOs on projects and policies that combine sustainable groundwater management, flood risk reduction, habitat enhancement, and surface and groundwater quality improvement. Before that, she was the storm water permit manager for UC Berkeley, where she translated state and federal regulations into campus-wide policies and actions, and helped to initiate and complete several creek restoration projects. Aysha received her MS in Environmental Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley, and her BA in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM. In her free time, Aysha likes to hike, bike and play music.
Daniel is the Director of Resource Stewardship and leads the organization’s water program to promote new approaches to conserve and replenish groundwater supplies for agriculture, communities and the environment. He works to integrate technical knowledge, decision support tools, and policy in support of groundwater sustainability and habitat restoration through collaboration with farmers, the agricultural industry, researchers, agencies and other non-governmental organizations.
Prior to joining Sustainable Conservation, Daniel was Assistant State Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) serving the California Central Coast and San Francisco Bay-Delta regions. During his 17-year career with NRCS he fostered partnerships with Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs), technical advisors, researchers and the agricultural community to promote water quality and habitat protection practices, and led efforts to integrate food safety with conservation practices.
Daniel earned a PhD in human ecology from UC Davis for his research on strategies to improve cross-cultural communication for resource management with Hispanic farmers. He also holds a BA in agroecology from UC Santa Cruz and an MA in Latin American studies from Stanford University. Daniel has practical on-the-ground experience as a farm and land manager on rural properties in northern California and as a landscape contractor in Santa Cruz County.
With a background in economics, engineering, and entrepreneurship, Richael brings complementary skills for water resources management and policy. Richael’s career has been guided by her values of stewardship, excellence, and trust. She is passionate about driving impact in water sustainability and proud of her track record implementing trusted water policies and technologies across the U.S. West.
Before joining Sustainable Conservation, Richael was CEO and cofounder of Mammoth Water, a company that developed software for water accounting and water trading. Richael has consulted on the design of demand management programs across the U.S. West, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Washington, and Wyoming. Following Mammoth’s acquisition, Richael served as a senior economist at ERA Economics, where she supported water agencies, environmental nonprofits, and agribusinesses with designing and evaluating cost-effective water policies and projects. Richael has presented her work at the White House Water Summit, Stockholm World Water Week, Techstars Sustainability Accelerator in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, and the Imagine H2O and Milken Institute’s California Water Policy and Innovation Challenge.
In her spare time, Richael advises other entrepreneurs and enjoys walks and playing board games with her husband and family. Richael holds a B.S. degree in civil and environmental engineering and M.S. degrees in environmental engineering and agricultural and consumer economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Joe is the Project Director of Water Resources for Sustainable Conservation. Using his agricultural and water management experience, he partners with diverse stakeholders to design and implement groundwater recharge strategies, customized to their specific needs and local characteristics, to achieve interrelated benefits for their communities, environment, and agricultural systems.
Joe has over 20 years of professional experience working for private businesses, the federal government, and non-governmental organizations. His experience includes working in production agriculture, micro-lending, nutrient management, biofuels, renewable energy, integrated pest management, international business development, and water conservation and management.
Joe earned a Master of Science in International Agricultural Development from the University of California, Davis and a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness and a Spanish Minor from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
