Flooded agricultural field along Woodbridge Road in Lodi, California (DWR, 2019).
The Flood-MAR Network is a vibrant collaboration of individuals and organizations dedicated to promoting Flood-MAR implementation in California.
Stay up-to-date with the latest Flood-MAR news and activities!
The Coordinating Team supports the Flood-MAR Network to ensure that the Network is effective in promoting the implementation of Flood-MAR projects throughout California. The Coordinating Team helps identify emerging and priority topics that should be brought to the Network for discussion and further action. Coordinating team members meet monthly, and team membership rotates annually.
If you are interested in joining the Coordinating Team, contact [email protected]
2024 Coordinating Team Members:
Adam Hutchinson, Orange County Water District
Aysha Massell, Sustainable Conservation
Cliff Feldheim, Ducks Unlimited
Eric Ginney, ESA Associates
Glen Low, Earth Genome
Graham Fogg, UC Davis
Dr. Helen Dahlke, UC Davis
Jamie Cameron-Harley, California Department of Water Resources
Jason Wiener, ESA Associates
Jenny Marr, California Department of Water Resources
Jesse Roseman, Grower
Kamyar Guivetchi, California Department of Water Resources (retired)
Kristan Culbert, American Rivers
Meredith Goebel-Szenher, Stanford University
Michael Founds, cbec eco engineering
Philip Bachand, Bachand Associates
Samuel Cunningham, Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group
Sarah Puckett, American Rivers
Scott Bradford, US Department of Agriculture – ARS, SAWS Unit
Action Teams are collaborations of volunteer Flood-MAR Network members who seek to identify and advance a particular product, project, or initiative over the next one to two years. The six Action Teams emerged from discussions during the March 2023 quarterly Flood-MAR Network workshop, demonstrating a desire to leverage the collective resources of the Network, turn ideas into tangible outputs to benefit the Flood-MAR community, and ultimately advance Flood-MAR statewide.
The Action Teams are:
We invite you learn more and consider joining an upcoming meeting if your work (or your curiosity) intersects with the goals of an Action Team. Our work is improved when our expertise and experience are shared!
To join or be added to an Action Team email roster and learn of upcoming meetings and efforts, please drop us a note at [email protected].
A panoramic view of the water release from Lake Natoma at Nimbus Dam in Sacramento County, California as a precaution against flooding after an atmospheric river storm
dumped heavy rain and snow across Northern California (DWR, 2019).
Monthly Lunch-MAR Webinars
Lunch-MAR webinars take place the first Wednesday of each month. In these webinars, network members and invited guests present on and discuss a wide range of topics relevant to Flood-MAR, ranging from water rights to geophysics.
To join a Lunch-MAR Session, please use this link [Note: The link was updated on 01.06.2025 for sessions occurring from February 2025 – December 2027. Registration is no longer needed to join.]
Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 12:30PM -1:30PM
Expanding FIRO – Screening Corps Reservoirs Nationally for Forecast-Informed Operations Potential
Presenter: Elissa Yeates, ERDC Coastal and Hydraulics Lab, Hydrologic Systems Branch
Sneak Peek: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) research and operations program Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) seeks to add flexibility to dam release decisions where possible to improve outcomes across multiple objectives, including flood risk management, water supply availability, groundwater recharge, and environmental flows. This approach has demonstrated benefits during recent water years at pilot sites, expanding demand for FIRO assessments and implementation at more reservoirs. A nationwide screening process for FIRO is being applied across the USACE portfolio of reservoirs, assessing opportunities for benefit, barriers to implementation, and sufficiency of forecast skill by site. This presentation shares results of FIRO screening nationwide and in more detail across the southwest region and connects those results with MAR opportunities downstream of USACE dams.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 12:30 – 1:30
Increasing Groundwater Recharge Capacity in Southern San Joaquin Municipal Utility District – A Case Study Highlighting Planning, Funding, Constructing and Operating Recharge Facilities Within the District
Presenters: Sam Schaefer, Bryan Thoreson, Nayeli Rodriguez, GEI Consultants
Sneak Peek: The Southern San Joaquin Municipal Utility District is expanding its groundwater recharge facilities to enhance its ability to use surface water for replenishing groundwater. Originally supported by the Central Valley Project and the Friant-Kern Canal, the District’s water supply has faced challenges due to reduced CVP reliability and changing delivery schedules. In response to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014, the District aims to develop 1,000 acres of recharge facilities over several years. This presentation will cover the District’s progress, including completed recharge sites and plans to convert vineyard land into spreading basins.
Wednesday, June 4, 2025, 12:30PM -1:30PM
Removal of Suspended Solids and Water Quality Improvements from Riverbed Filtration-Eight Years of Demonstration Testing in Orange County, CA
Presenter: Adam Hutchinson, Orange County Water District
Sneak Peek: Clogging of surface water recharge systems from suspended solids is a major obstacle to effective groundwater recharge—but what if there were a better way? Join us to learn how the Orange County Water District’s innovative Riverbed Filtration System more than doubled recharge capacity while removing 96% of suspended solids from Santa Ana River water. Discover how this breakthrough could unlock thousands of acre-feet of additional recharge annually and transform the future of water management.
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Regenerative Agriculture and Flood-MAR
Presenter: Daniel Rath, Natural Resources Defense Council
Sneak Peek: Coming soon!
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
An Overview of the Groundwater Accounting Platform
Presenter: California Water Data Consortium
Sneak Peek: The Groundwater Accounting Platform is an open-source tool that helps California water managers, landowners, and water users track water budgets and usage more easily in near real-time. The California Water Data Consortium and Environmental Defense Fund have partnered to expand the Platform to new regions, and to provide additional features and functionalities to help more groundwater agencies and growers track water use allocations under SGMA. Come and learn more about new updates to the tool and a vision for the future on August 6, 2025
LATER 2025 SESSIONS:
Virtual Flood-MAR Network Workshops
All Flood-MAR Network members are invited to attend periodic virtual workshops. These workshops provide opportunities for members to engage in conversations and collaborate on Flood-MAR projects.
Latest Network Workshop: Friday March 28 from 10 am – 12 pm
This virtual workshop aimed to reflect on the progress made in 2024, re-energize our collective efforts, and collaboratively shape priorities for 2025. Key objectives were:
FIRO-MAR Learning Group
The FIRO-MAR learning group is dedicated to sharing information on the latest advancements in linking forecast-informed reservoir operations (FIRO) with Flood-MAR. This group is on a short break and will reconvene in 2025.
Biennial Forums
Flood-MAR forums have been held biannually since 2017 to discuss and address the opportunities and challenges of implementing flood-MAR in California.
This fall (2025), we’re excited to host the next Flood-MAR Forum, a biennial event dedicated to exploring opportunities and challenges in implementing Flood-MAR in California. To help us create an engaging and interactive event that meets our collective goals, we’d love to receive your input via this brief eight-question survey—it should take about five minutes to complete. We appreciate your time and insights!
We will meet as Network to review survey input and further shape the Forum agenda at the March 28, 2025 Virtual Network Workshop from 10am – 12pm. We hope you can join us!
The Flood-MAR Network hosted its fourth biennual Flood-MAR Public Forum on November 7 & 8, 2023, at the CSUS Harper Alumni Center in Sacramento. Nearly 100 Flood-MAR practitioners gathered to share success stories and lessons learned from the landmark wet winter of 2022 – 2023 and identify areas for further preparation needed to implement projects that use floodwaters for managed aquifer recharge in future wet years, for the benefit of communities, ecosystems, and agriculture.
From this sharing of experiences and ideas, Forum discussions culminated in five main takeaways:
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2023 FLOOD-MAR FORUM | Flood-MAR in Action
Tuesday, November 7, 2023, 12:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Wednesday, November 8, 2023, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
FORUM AGENDA | DAY 1
Mike Antos – Stantec
Karla Nemeth – California Department of Water Resources
Aaron Fukuda – Tulare Irrigation District
Christine Gemperle – Grower
Mark Hutson – Grower, Hutson Farm
Julia Barfield – The Nature Conservancy
Andy Fisher – U.C. Santa Cruz
Kristin Sicke – Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
Table Discussions – Share Your Success Stories!
Moderator: Sarah Woolf – Water Wise
Chase Hurley – Water and Land Solutions
Bill Stretch – Fresno Irrigation District
David Guy – Northern California Water Association
Mike Mierzwa – CA Department of Water Resources
Mike Myatt– Environmental Defense Fund
Daniel Mountjoy – Sustainable Conservation
FORUM AGENDA | DAY 2
Graham Fogg – UC Davis, Network Coordinating Committee Member
Moderator: Ashley Boren – Sustainable Conservation
Paul Gosselin – California Department of Water Resources
Erik Ekdahl – State Water Resources Control Board
Don Cameron – California State Board of Food and Agriculture
Sustainable Groundwater Management Office Tools, Steven Springhorn – CA Dept. of Water Resources
San Joaquin Valley Flood-MAR Dashboard, Christine Gutierrez – GEI
District and Grower Guidance, Aysha Massell – Sustainable Conservation
San Joaquin River Watershed Studies, Jim Wieking – CA Dept. of Water Resources
Eco-FIP Toolset and Pilot Studies, Michael Founds – cbec eco engineering
Fastpath, Meredith Goebel-Szenher – Stanford University
Introduction to the Network’s six Action Teams, Kamyar Guivetchi – CA Dept. of Water Resources
Estimating Recharge, Graham Fogg – UC Davis
Water Quality, Daniel Mountjoy – Sustainable Conservation
Instream Flows, Noelle Patterson – cbec eco engineering
Assessing Policy, Charles Delgado – Sustainable Conservation
Incentives for Recharge, Laura Ramos – Fresno State & Sam Cunningham – PPENG
Flood-MAR HUB, Kirsten Ondris – UC Davis & Meredith Goebel-Szenher – Stanford University
Table Discussions – What are your priorities to prepare for the next wet year?
Karen Ross – Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture
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Thank you to this 2023 Flood-MAR Forum Sponsors!
Coachella Valley Water District’s Thomas E. Levy Groundwater Replenishment Facility in Coachella, Calif.
Photo Credit: DWR
Copyright 2022-Present, Flood-MAR and Contributing Authors.
