WHAT ARE THE REGIONAL BOUNDARIES?

 The Greater Monterey County region includes all of the Salinas River watershed north of the San Luis Obispo County line (encompassing a small portion of San Benito County where the Salinas River watershed extends outside of Monterey County), and includes the entirety of Monterey County exclusive of the Pajaro River Watershed IRWM region (which covers the Pajaro River watershed) and Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Bay, and South Monterey Bay IRWM region (which covers all of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District jurisdiction, plus all of the Carmel River and San Jose Creek watersheds, plus all of the Seaside Groundwater Basin) established under Proposition 50.

WHO IS MANAGING THE

IRWMP FOR GREATER

MONTEREY COUNTY?

Members of the Regional Water Management Group have

been chosen to ensure balanced representation of the various

resource areas, interests, and geographic areas in the

Greater Monterey County region, and include the following:  

·         Big Sur Land Trust

• California Coastal Commission
• California State University Monterey Bay

·         California Water Service Company

·         Castroville Community Services District

·         City of Salinas

• Coastlands Mutual Water Company
• Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

·         Environmental Justice Coalition for Water

·         Garrapata Creek Watershed Council

·         Marina Coast Water District

·         Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

·         Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office

·         Monterey County Water Resources Agency

·         Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency

·         Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

·         Resource Conservation District (RCD) of Monterey County

• San Jerardo Cooperative, Inc.

In addition, to ensure that the needs and priorities of the diverse array of water management interests within the planning region are included in the Greater Monterey County IRWMP, a list of potential stakeholders has been compiled encompassing all known agencies, organizations, groups, and individuals with interest or active involvement in water resource management, environmental resources, flood protection, land use planning, or related areas. Stakeholders will be invited to attend meetings of the Regional Water Management Group, participate in workshops, and provide comment on drafts of the IRWMP.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT GROUP?

The main purpose of the Regional Water Management Group is to develop a plan for the region (the IRWMP) that outlines the region’s priorities in terms of water resource management, and that contains a prioritized list of projects which the Group will submit to the California Department of Water Resources for possible funding through the IRWM Grant Program (i.e., Proposition 84 and Proposition 1E grant funds). The Regional Water Management Group will not necessarily create project proposals themselves, but will identify projects in the region and develop those projects in such a way as to make them stronger and more attractive to the State for grant funding. 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 our region and submit grant applications to the State on behalf of the region.