About the Greater Monterey County Regional Water Management Group

The Regional Water Management Group is the entity tasked with developing and implementing the Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Plan, reviewing projects submitted to the plan, and choosing which projects to put forward for funding.

The Regional Water Management Group for the Greater Monterey County IRWM region includes government agencies, nonprofit organizations, educational organizations, water service districts, private water companies, and organizations representing agricultural, environmental, and community interests. The Regional Water Management Group members were chosen to ensure balanced representation of the various resource areas, interests, and geographic areas throughout the Greater Monterey County region, and consist of the following 19 entities:

Big Sur Land Trust
California State University Monterey Bay
California Water Service Company
Castroville Community Services District
Central Coast Wetlands Group at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
City of Salinas
City of Soledad
Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Marina Coast Water District
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office
Monterey County Resource Management Agency
Monterey County Water Resources Agency
Monterey One Water
Resource Conservation District of Monterey County
Rural Community Assistance Corporation
Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency
San Jerardo Co-operative, Inc.

The Regional Water Management Group as a group has no special legal authority or regulatory power; it is simply a group of local agencies and organizations that have volunteered to identify water resource management projects in the Greater Monterey County region and to submit grant applications to the State on behalf of the region.

Stakeholders throughout the Greater Monterey County also play an important role in the IRWM decision-making process. Stakeholders are invited to attend Regional Water Management Group meetings, participate in workshops, and provide input and comments on the IRWM Plan. The current stakeholder list for the Greater Monterey County IRWM planning effort includes about 250 individuals representing over 150 agencies, organizations, and interest groups, including such entities as the following:

–   Water suppliers and water service districts
–   Wastewater agencies
–   Water quality regulatory entities
–   Watershed groups
–   Flood control agencies
–   Federal, state, county and municipal governments
–   Environmental non-profit organizations
–   Agricultural organizations
–   Business organizations
–   Disadvantaged communities
–   Other community organizations
–   Universities and research institutions
–   Elected officials
–   Other interested individuals

Together, stakeholders and the Regional Water Management Group represent all of the major water resource management authorities in the region—as well as water resource management authorities and stakeholders from neighboring IRWM regions—and provide broad and fair representation of water supply, water quality, wastewater, stormwater, flood control, watershed, municipal, environmental, agricultural, and regulatory interests throughout all geographic areas of the planning region.