Adapting Together: Water Policy for a Changing California

Welcoming Remarks: One State, Many Waters
Dr. Karragan Börk, UC Davis Professor of Law and Director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

Panel 1 - SGMA’s Stress Test: The Next Decade
As groundwater agencies confront mounting challenges, such as well mitigation, ecosystem protection, subsidence, and funding, the panel examines the tradeoffs and uncertainties defining the law's next phase. It also considers whether local governance can hold, or whether legal adjudication will become the default in the most stressed basins

Panel 2 - The Future of Water: Building Healthy Watersheds Through Collaborations
This panel will explore lessons learned in watershed management from three diverse California systems - the Yuba River, Russian River, and Ventura River - highlighting how different governance structures, hydrologic conditions, and stakeholder dynamics shape outcomes for water supply reliability, ecosystem restoration, and community resilience.

Luncheon Dialogue

“Water: What We’re Missing” with award-winning journalists Lois Henry and Tom Philp, Moderated by Mike Lee, Director of Public Affairs for the San Diego County Water Authority

Panel 3 – Colorado River: Crisis and the Climate Reckoning
As declining flows force difficult decisions across the Colorado River Basin, this panel examines how states, tribes, and water users are negotiating reductions and redefining allocation priorities. Panelists will explore emerging agreements, equity considerations, and the risks of conflict as the basin confronts a future where demand consistently outpaces supply.

Panel 4: From Austerity to Abundance
This panel will examine a shift in California water management from scarcity and restriction toward resilience, innovation, and strategic abundance. With SB 72 calling for 9 million acre-feet of new supply, experts in environmental law, water affordability, and supply development will explore how frameworks like CEQA, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act can be modernized and better aligned with 21st Century climate realities.