"Toward a New Storage Paradigm in the Chino Basin"
Presented By:
Mark Wildermuth, Peter Kavounas
INTRODUCTION:
The Chino Groundwater Basin was adjudicated in 1978 and storage within the basin has been managed by the Chino Basin Watermaster since that time. Peter Kavounas, General Manager of the Chino Basin Watermaster, and Mark Wildermuth, President of Wildermuth Environmental, Inc. and Watermaster's hydrologic consultant, will describe the process underway in the Chino Basin to update the manner in which storage within the groundwater basin is managed. Their presentation will include discussion of the political and regulatory aspects of such an update, along with discussion of Watermaster's 2018 Storage Framework Investigation, a technical analysis of the impacts of potential storage regimes on the Basin.
SPEAKER BIOS:
Mark Wildermuth, has 42 years of experience in water resources engineering and planning, including: surface and groundwater hydrology; hydraulics and water quality; surface and ground water modeling; groundwater management, including recharge master plans; water resources systems planning, operation, and optimization; water rights; evaluation of receiving water impacts; and flood control facility design.
Mr. Wildermuth has extensive expertise in the development of water resource management plans for groundwater basins and watersheds in Southern California, and he has provided expert witness testimony and opinions for litigation support and mediation in several important cases—the most recent being the recalculation of the Chino Basin safe yield and the Phase 3 trial in the Antelope Valley groundwater adjudication.
Mr. Wildermuth is a recognized expert in the hydrology of the Santa Ana Watershed, having developed groundwater models at some time in his career for all of the groundwater basins in the upper watershed and highly integrated surface and groundwater models for the Santa Ana River and its tributaries and underlying basins. These models are in active use to manage the Chino, Cucamonga, Six Basins, Temescal, and Mammoth Basins. Mr. Wildermuth developed the recharge master plan concept, utilizing detailed surface water models and powerful statistical techniques to determine expected new recharge and cost. Mr. Wildermuth designed and subsequently led the process to develop the salt and nutrient management plan for the Santa Ana River Watershed and subsequent updates. His work has withstood rigorous peer review and has been relied on in adjudicated basins and regulatory processes.
Mr. Wildermuth directs WEI’s technology program, which conducts research and development of models and develops database/visualization tools, methodologies to estimate the sustainable yields of groundwater systems, and methodologies to evaluate the impacts of climate change on surface and ground water resources.
Peter Kavounas, was hired as the General Manager of Chino Basin Watermaster on September 4, 2012. Mr. Kavounas has over 25 years of experience and has worked for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as the Eastern Sierra Environmental Issues Manager, and for the City of Glendale’s Water and Power Department as the Assistant General Manager-Water Services. Mr. Kavounas was elected to the Castaic Lake Water Agency Board of Directors in 1998 and served for fifteen years holding various positions including the office of Board President.
Mr. Kavounas has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Engineering-Structural from UC Berkeley, and a Master of Science-Water Resources from USC. He is also a graduate of Leadership Southern California Class XII, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California
As the General Manager Mr. Kavounas oversees all aspects of the organization: meeting obligations to the Judgment and other Court Orders, implementation of the Optimum Basin Management Program, compliance with all regulatory requirements, and business practices.
MODERATOR BIO:
Brad Herrema's forte and long-term focus include strategic water supply planning, water right permitting and regulatory compliance, litigation including water right adjudications, transactional negotiations and due diligence, as well as water quality, environmental and species concerns spanning every aspect of California and national water law. For nearly 15 years, Brad has been involved in many of the nation’s most significant and complex water matters, predominantly in the western United States. A strategic business partner to his clients, Brad serves as special water counsel to private corporations, water purveyors such as cities and special districts, investor-owned utilities and large landowners, golf courses, resorts and energy and infrastructure projects.
Brad has extensive experience in groundwater matters, including development of new groundwater supplies in adjudicated and non-adjudicated basins, groundwater right adjudications, local groundwater management, groundwater storage and complex groundwater litigation. He is actively engaged in implementation of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, including representation of groundwater sustainability agencies, development of groundwater sustainability plans, and protection of water users’ water rights and reliable access to groundwater supplies.
Brad serves as counsel to the Chino Basin Watermaster, an arm of the San Bernardino Superior Court, which oversees the implementation of a 1978 groundwater rights adjudication in the Southern California Inland Empire, central to the sustenance of the region’s $2 billion economy.
Brad is the leader of the firm’s Water practice group and is a regular writer and speaker on water issues. For the last seven years, he has held a statewide leadership role in the field of groundwater resources as director of the Groundwater Resources Association of California.
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