Daphne Nandino at CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region's Water Program

I completed my practicum with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), specifically with the North Central Region’s Water Program. The North Central Region’s Water Program mission is to facilitate projects and permits that achieve durable water, species, and ecosystem benefits; and to catalyze policies that protect fish, wildlife, and their habitats. The program also aims to inform sustainable groundwater management that meets the needs of the state’s wildlife and natural resources.

My practicum revolved around California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and CDFW’s role as a stakeholder in groundwater management. The project consisted of analyzing samples of CDFW comment letters on draft and final Groundwater Sustainability Plans for various groundwater basins in California. These letters hold key information including comments and recommendations from CDFW on potential changes to Groundwater Sustainability Plans and Groundwater Sustainability Agency responses to these recommendations. I used qualitative coding methods to compile information into a technical report that provided insight on the ways and extent that Groundwater Sustainability Agencies were considering CDFW comments within the selected basins. This report also included recommendations of actions that CDFW can take to aid in the implementation of CDFW comments.

Working on this practicum provided the valuable opportunity to research how wildlife and ecosystems are considered and protected in relation to groundwater utilization and enabled me to complete a project that analyzed an example of the many important interactions that occur between agencies and state departments in resource management.