Manage Grant Agreement including compliance with grant requirements, and preparation and submission of supporting grant documents.

Identify and assess existing regional networks, evaluating participant engagement and contribution, inclusivity, and health of the networks. Include regional water management groups, groundwater sustainability agencies, regional climate collaboratives, regional flood management groups, environmental groups, regional forest and fire capacity program groups, and other relevant water and resource management groups. Identify and engage vulnerable communities, 1 California Tribes, and watershed participants not previously included in water-related decision-making and assess their capacity and interest in contributing to this process. 

Deliverables:  

• Draft Existing Regional Network Assessment section that includes an assessment of existing regional networks and engagement efforts and identifies any gaps in engaging historically excluded communities. 

The Ventura River Watershed Council has been adopted as the Watershed Network for this project. At the October 2024 General Meeting for the Ventura River Watershed Council the members voted in favor of joining the project as the Watershed Network.

An assessment of the governance structure will take place over the course of the project.

This project is delineating our project area as the Ventura River Watershed, which includes all tributaries that feed into the Ventura River.

Work with the watershed network to develop problem statements and establish the watershed resilience vision and goals to guide the development of the Watershed Resilience Plan.  

Deliverables:  

• Draft watershed-specific resilience problem statements  

• Draft watershed-specific resilience vision and goals  

Compile existing climate vulnerability assessments for water-related sectors, identify critical historical weather-related events and their impacts, and document major regional climate drivers and trends. The documented climate drivers shall include descriptions of historical weather-related trends and events/impacts and projected changes in temperature, precipitation, sea level, floods, drought, wildfire, and other climate-driven processes that are relevant to the watershed. Describe key climate challenges and opportunities for increasing future resilience. Document all of this information in a watershed problems and challenges chapter.  

Deliverables:  

• Draft Watershed Problems and Challenges chapter  

Conduct the following work to assess watershed vulnerabilities and risks for the delineated watershed area:  

• Develop vulnerability metrics and thresholds for major water sectors and land uses such as water supply, groundwater, flood management, ecosystems, water quality, recreation, and hydropower, and additionally, for equity considerations.  

• Prepare an updated historical watershed water budget using appropriate methods outlined in the  of the 2020 DWR Draft Handbook for Water Budget Development.  

• Assess and organize existing modeling tools for water resources vulnerability, adjusting or developing new models as needed for quantitative vulnerability assessments. Modeling tools may include, but are not limited to, watershed hydrological, groundwater, river basin management, river hydraulic, water quality, ecological, and economic models.  

• Conduct climate vulnerability and risk assessments, initially qualitative, exploring climate hazards, system sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability. Followed by a quantitative assessment evaluating current and future system performance related to water resource and equity metrics for water sectors indicating high climate vulnerability.  

• Prepare a comprehensive vulnerability and risk assessment report, detailing the approach, methods, and findings of the above work, to enhance understanding of climate risks and conditions influencing vulnerability in the watershed.  

Deliverables:  

• Draft watershed water budget  

• Draft Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Climate Risk Assessment chapters  

Conduct the following work to identify priority risk areas, develop and evaluate adaptation strategies, and recommend actions for improvement:  

• Conduct a thorough review of vulnerability assessment findings to describe priority risk areas based on the level of risk, impacts to multiple resources, and vulnerability metrics.  

• Develop watershed-specific adaptation strategies encompassing infrastructure, land and water management, regulatory and policy measures, and regional approaches. These strategies will undergo rigorous evaluation considering risk reduction, technical complexity, cost, regulatory and environmental impacts, social effects, and equity considerations.  

• Utilize quantitative methods aligned with vulnerability assessment tools to demonstrate risk reduction potential for one or more adaptation strategies.  

• Document a set of recommended adaptation strategies, inclusive of benefits and costs. The strategies should address all water resource sectors and also demonstrate how equity considerations are included.  

Deliverables:  

• Draft Adaptation Strategies chapter  

Identify and develop an implementation plan for each of the adaptation strategies recommended in Task 8. This plan shall encompass the adaptation strategy, specific actions, responsible leads, supportive parties, schedule, and implementation costs, serving as a guiding framework for strategy implementation over time. Work within the watershed network to actively engage in building public support for recommended strategies. This shall include tasks such as creating concise, publicly available information and messaging on the importance of adaptation for watershed resilience; posting this information to the Grantee’s website and conducting targeted outreach. Implementation strategies shall be developed, reviewed, and approved in open and public forums.  

Deliverables:  

• Draft Implementation Strategies chapter  

• Copies of outreach materials  

dentify watershed-specific performance tracking indicators that serve as “vital signs” for tracking current watershed conditions. Document the data sources and methods associated with each indicator.  

Deliverables:  

• Performance Tracking Chapter including identified indicators and metrics, supporting data, and availability of data  

Prepare a comprehensive Watershed Resilience Plan that documents the process, approaches, findings, and recommendations developed in the Project, following the format provided in Exhibit F. Prepare one draft Plan for review by the State and a final plan that addresses comments. The Grantee will make the final report accessible on their website.  

Deliverables:  

• A draft and final Watershed Resilience Plan including the assessments and key findings identified in Tasks 3 through 10.