A Word from Our General Manager, Rebecca Guo

I'm excited to share EDWA’s Annual Report for FY 2024–25, a comprehensive look at the progress we made over the last fiscal year and the direction we are heading. While we regularly share updates, we created this inaugural high-level summary to celebrate what we have accomplished under each of our five implementation programs. In the report, you can see our major milestones, our ongoing work, and highlights from a few of our strategic initiatives and projects. 

I am proud of all that our agency has accomplished, while still recognizing that our work is far from done. We hope our annual report sparks new ideas, strengthens partnerships, and opens doors for future collaboration. Our team at EDWA wishes you a wonderful holiday season. We’re thankful for your partnership and look forward to continuing our work to build a sustainable and reliable water future for our communities.

Initiatives Underway in the Upper American River Watershed

Exciting momentum is taking place to protect the highly valuable upper American River watershed. The El Dorado Resource Conservation District (RCD) has been awarded a grant to lead an important initiative that builds on the watershed management vision developed by the Upper American River Watershed Group (UARWG). RCD’s grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy through the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program will invest in the development of a pipeline of projects in the West Slope of El Dorado County, which will play a key role in restoring and maintaining the health of the upper American River watershed.



Formed in 2022, the UARWG emerged as a locally-driven response to the watershed’s critical condition after enduring years of drought and the catastrophic Caldor Fire. EDWA serves as the facilitator of the UARWG and is helping to develop the project pipeline by serving as a member of the project oversight and technical working groups. Building a pipeline of shovel-ready projects will enable regional partners to proactively identify the watershed’s most pressing needs and competitively pursue new funding opportunities as they arise.  

Alongside the project pipeline development, EDWA is facilitating the advancement of three key UARWG initiatives. One of these focuses on forming a collective identity to amplify UARWG member organizations’ perspectives and expertise and create a stronger voice for watershed support. Another initiative aims to develop a common watershed data management framework to integrate various sources of information for improved efficiency and collaboration. Additionally, the UARWG is working to incorporate watershed co-benefits in project planning by identifying compatible ecological values that add to the positive outcomes and competitiveness of watershed projects.

Plenary Helps Inform Pathway Towards

Water Resilience in the Tahoe Basin

We recently convened our fall Countywide Plenary for Water in South Lake Tahoe which brought together experts for insightful discussions and collaboration aimed at addressing critical water-resource related challenges in the Tahoe region. The Plenary consisted of engaging panel discussions on the integration of water and land use planning, a regional tetrachloroethylene (PCE) contamination update, and hands-on mapping exercises to identify challenges and shared solutions to ensure sustainable integrated water resources management.

Attendees at the Plenary included local water and utility managers, non-profit and small water system representatives, and staff from local, regional, and state organizations. Plenary attendees discussed strategies to strengthen regional collaboration on water supply reliability, stormwater, groundwater, and sewer management, and infrastructure resilience. These strategies addressed not only currently known issues, but also potential future actions needed to support the realization of long-term land use planning goals by both the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and County of El Dorado. A common theme throughout the day was the need to align local planning and investment efforts across jurisdictions to ensure long-term water security and sustainable community growth in the Tahoe Basin.

The plenary discussions and engagement from attendees will be key in helping shape EDWA’s development of a long-term implementation roadmap for the Tahoe Basin for water supply and quality, stormwater and groundwater management, infrastructure development and operations, and other water resources-related issues. A similar regional-focus of the Plenary for the West Slope will occur in spring 2026.