Santa Ana Watershed Ambassador Program

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About the Santa Ana Watershed Ambassador Program

The Local Government Commission is hosting a workshop series to equip local policymakers in the Santa Ana River watershed with practical strategies and accessible tools to implement innovative solutions to their community’s water challenges.

The Certified Watershed Ambassador Program is offered at no-cost to local government staff and officials in the Santa Ana Watershed. This three-part program will provide valuable opportunities for participants to: connect with regional leaders; learn how California’s natural drought, fire, flood cycle has impacted water and land-use decisions; and strategize innovative solutions to their community’s water challenges. Each round will address a different topic and include lectures and skill-based exercises to help participants frame better public policy questions and strengthen relational skills.

Who should attend?

Mayors, city council members, county supervisors, city managers, county commissioners, tribal representatives, elected board members of water districts, city and/or county staff, and other civic leaders involved in water and land-use planning within the watershed.

Workshop series

Getting to Know Your Watershed

San Bernardino County: September 10, 2019
Riverside County: September 12, 2019
Orange County: September 16, 2019

Collaborative Planning in the Face of Uncertainty

Riverside County: January 15, 2020
Orange County: January 21, 2020
San Bernardino County: January 22, 2020

Communicating the Value of Water to Your Constituents – VIRTUAL WORKSHOP

Tuesday, June 2, 2020 and
Thursday, June 4, 2020

Ambassador Program for Local Policymakers

The Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) will offer three levels of certification for all local policymakers who attend the Watershed Ambassador Program, recognizing their informed leadership, a commitment to healthy and resilient communities, and their dedication as a public representative of the watershed.

Round One Workshops: Getting to Know Your Watershed

September 2019

During this workshop, participants learned about the history of conflict and reconciliation in the watershed and how this relates to current integrated planning approaches. We identified key water risks and opportunities facing the region, and explored the role of historically underrepresented communities in watershed planning.

Round Two: Collaborative Planning in the Face of Uncertainty

January 2020

During the second round of workshops, participants dove into the complexity of California’s natural cycle of droughts, fires, and floods. Attendees learned best practices for water and land-use integration, with a focus on coordinated planning, multi-benefit projects, and cross-sector leadership development. Each workshop session concluded with strategies to advance integrated planning to prepare communities to address the uncertainty of future climatic conditions.

Round Three: Communicating the Value of Water to Your Constituents

We are happy to announce that the final round of the Santa Ana Watershed Ambassador workshop series will be delivered virtually. Choose between two dates: June 2, 2020 or June 4, 2020.

Both workshops will be open to participants from all jurisdictions within the Santa Ana River watershed.

June 2020

The final round of workshops built on the skills and knowledge gained through the previous sessions to help elected leaders strategize how to most effectively communicate the value of water to their constituents and be culturally sensitive in addressing local water needs. The third round workshop elevated cross-jurisdictional collaboration to promote effective communication within and across communities.

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Santa Ana Watershed Region

One Water One Watershed (OWOW) Program

The “One Water One Watershed” (OWOW) Plan is the Santa Ana River Watershed’s integrated regional water management (IRWM) plan. This plan reflects a collaborative planning process that addresses all aspects of water resources in the watershed over a 20-year time horizon. A new suite of innovative approaches, lead with a water demand reduction strategy, instead of relying solely on continued imported water deliveries.

These approaches include multi-beneficial projects and programs that are linked together for improved synergy, proactive innovative, and sustainable solutions, using regional solutions supporting local reliability and local prioritization, watershed based project and programs that effectively leverage limited resources, promote trust and produce a greater bang for the buck, and integrates water supply, water quality, recycled water, stormwater management, water use efficiency, land use, energy, climate change, habitat, and disadvantaged communities and tribes.