Thank you for agreeing to complete this survey.
Please note this survey takes 30 minutes - 1.5 hours to complete. Unforuntately, you are not able to save your work and continue later. Some have expressed frustration that they wish to SAVE their responses -- we will send out a NEW FORMAT or the questions BY MONDAY, 11/16 if you prefer to wait. Thanks for your paitience. If you have any concerns, please call Gina or Bennett at 415-271-0049
The Consensus Building Institute (www.cbuilding.org) is providing impartial facilitation and community engagement to support the formation of a groundwater sustainability agency in the Salinas Valley Basin.
The State of California passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in fall 2014. The State has designated the Salinas Valley Basin as a priority basin that must comply with the Act. The first major requirements are to form a Groundwater Sustainability Agency by June 2017 and to develop a groundwater sustainability plan by 2020. (groundwater.ca.gov) To assist the basin, the County, the City of Salinas, cities in the basin, and agricultural stakeholders came together as a consortium to identify and select a facilitator to work with all stakeholders in the basin. The consortium selected the Consensus Building Institute because of its strong reputation for providing quality facilitation and its experience working on groundwater issues and implementing the Act. CBI is conducting a stakeholder assessment, including this survey, to make recommendations for a transparent, inclusive process and will also facilitate meetings to reach agreements on forming a Groundwater Sustainability Agency that has widespread support among affected agencies, organizations, and individuals.
As the first step in the process, CBI is soliciting input via interviews and surveys. The purpose of the interviews and this survey is to provide insights about your interests and perspectives on groundwater management in the Salinas Valley Basin. This survey is designed for individuals and organizations who rely on groundwater or are interested in groundwater sustainability in the Salinas Valley Basin. The survey is confidential; submitting your name is optional. Gina Bartlett and Bennett Brooks of the Consensus Building Institute will use input from the survey and interviews to develop findings and recommendations for a process to form a groundwater sustainability agency under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Gina and Bennett will share the draft recommendations publicly and welcome feedback. CBI is striving to identify a broad range of individuals and organizational representatives to share their perspectives on this survey. Please let Gina know if you would recommend others receive the survey invitation. If you have questions or thoughts, please feel free to contact Gina or Bennett at 415/271-0049 or gina@cbuilding.org or bbrooks@cbuilding.org. Thank you in advance for your time and commitment to groundwater planning.
The survey is divided into the following sections:
Part 1: Demographic Information
Part 2: Forming a Groundwater Sustainability Agency
Part 3: Decision Making
Part 4: Stakeholder Engagement