Media Contact: Christa Harader, Communications Director, 415-977-0380 x308 [email protected]
Adapting to Climate Change
2024’s wet season kicked off with a bomb cyclone that inundated the West Coast with its first intense precipitation event. While the storm all but ended wildfire season and quenched Northern California’s dry soils, it can become too much of a good thing – and with more atmospheric rivers on the way, we need to be prepared.
As California’s climate evolves, so do its precipitation patterns and water systems. A Berkeley study estimates the Western U.S.’ atmospheric rivers expand by 15% in size and six 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 20th-century water infrastructure can handle predictable rainfall and snowmelt, not atmospheric rivers. Communities flood, ecosystems struggle, and all the while our groundwater – a critical drought resource – dwindles. This results in sinking lands, reduced river flows, and water insecurity for over one million Californians.
So, how do we protect communities and pursue a sustainable water future in 2025? The answer lies in our ability to harness peak flood flows from these storms. By capturing and storing floodwaters in floodplains, basins, and farmland, we recharge our groundwater reserves for future droughts, deliver vital ecosystem benefits, and reduce our communities’ flood risk.
Meet Our Experts
Our experts are excited to share their work with you! Contact us for an interview and for more information on California water management, climate resilience, and all things groundwater recharge.
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 Boards of California Trout, California Water Data Consortium and Water Solutions Network and on the President’s 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.
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.
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.
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.
Rogell received his Bachelor of Science in Plant Science from UC Davis. Prior to joining Sustainable Conservation, he held the following positions:
Vegetable Crop Production Manager for Dole Fresh Vegetables, Greenhouse Transplant Division in Salinas.
Field Agronomist for Western Farm Services in Yuma, Arizona, Mexico and throughout Southern California.
Field CCA/ PCA for Village Nurseries & as Director of Production/Head Grower for Agromillora, Inc. in Northern and Southern California growing ornamental trees and fruit and nut trees including almonds trees from in vitro rootstocks.
Citrus Production Manager/Head Grower for Duarte Trees & Vines Nursery, where he focused on all types of citrus varieties from tissue culture production to finished 3-foot tall transplants ready for field planting.
Staff Agronomist for A & L Labs in Modesto, where he worked with the Laboratory analyst to determine data was statistically accurate before sending soil, water, and plant tissue test results to growers.
Working out of our Modesto office, Ryan will lead the organization’s efforts to promote strategies for San Joaquin Valley dairies for managing animal waste in ways that benefit clean air and water. Ryan comes to us from Business for Social Responsibility, a non-profit that works with business to ensure a just and sustainable world, where he was a manager of advisory services working with the food, beverage and agricultural industries. Ryan has more than 15 years of experience in business strategy, supply chain management, sustainable agriculture, water stewardship and stakeholder engagement. He has an MBA from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelors of Arts from Tulane University.
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.
The 2023 water year demonstrated the potential of Flood-Managed Aquifer Recharge (Flood-MAR), with a reported 17% increase in groundwater recharge compared to a wet 2017. However, scaling Flood-MAR to its full potential requires expanded infrastructure, enabling policy, and technical support. Collaborative planning and preparation between water managers, landowners, and policymakers is essential to maximize our recharge activities.
We’re committed to scaling Flood-MAR through partnerships, policy support, and on-the-ground collaboration for sustainable water management that benefits communities and ecosystems.
Watch our latest video to learn how our deep partnerships are transforming California water management!
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
Paolo Vescia
With pioneering Fresno County farmer Don Cameron, tested a unique method for replenishing our aquifers: applying seasonal flood water to farmland.
2016
Water managers can easily explore recharge options with GRAT’s user-friendly map interface.
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
Kelly M. Grow/ CA-DWR
Partnered with the California Department of Water Resources on a statewide strategy for recharge on diverse landscapes with multiple environmental benefits.
2019
Pusher HQ
Grew operational GRAT™ in Madera Irrigation District to 379 farmers who recharged 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
Matt Hoffman
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
Andrew Innerarity / CA-DWR
Sustainable Conservation partners recharged three times more groundwater in 2023 than any other year. Thanks in part to our work with willing partners, DWR reported that Californians recharged enough water for 11 million homes this year alone.
2024
Dale Kolke / CA-DWR
PPIC estimates that 7.6 million acre-feet was recharged in 2023, representing a 17% increase from 2017, the last comparable wet year. Furthermore, the volume of on-farm recharge nearly doubled in the past six years.
