Office of the Delta Watermaster

Delta Measurement Experimentation Consortium (DMEC)

Summary

The Delta Measurement Experimental Consortium (DMEC) was formed in 2016 by the Office of the Delta Water Master in response to passage of Senate Bill 88 which requires all California water rights holders to report their water usage. The objective of the DMEC is to engage all interested parties to assess methods for water diversion, measurement, and reporting within the Sacramento-San Joaquin legal Delta. Due to unique hydrologic characteristics of subsided islands and the predominant use of siphon pumps for irrigation across the Delta, traditional methods of measurement including conventional gages confront substantial technical, feasibility and reliability challenges.

The DMEC meets quarterly to discuss measurement technologies and methods, water measurement experiments, and software tools that can be applied in the Delta across a range of different water diversion equipment designs and operating conditions.

The DMEC has played a foundational role in assessing the effectiveness and reliability of multiple water measurement approaches. Since 2021, based on the information developed by the group and general consensus regarding the efficacy and cost-feasibility of various techniques, roughly 70% of water users in the Delta are now participating in “alternative compliance plans” (ACPs) using OpenET, an open-source remote sensing measurement of evapotranspiration as a reliable, feasible, and transparent methodology to measure consumptive use of water in the legal Delta.

The DMEC will continue to evaluate new information, experimental outcomes, and stakeholder recommendations to improve the accuracy, timeliness, and accessibility of date to better understand real-time consumptive use in the Delta. The DMEC process and its meetings will highlight ongoing work to inform and to improve water measurement and reporting data to inform water management actions consistent with rights.

Next Meeting

September 24, 2024

• September 24, 2024 - Agenda

Past Meetings

May 22, 2024

• May 22, 2024 - Agenda

February 8, 2024

• February 8, 2024 - Agenda

December 14, 2023

• December 14, 2023 - Agenda

September 21, 2023

• September 21, 2023 - Agenda

July 20, 2023

• July 20, 2023 - Agenda

April 20, 2023

• April 20, 2023 - Agenda

January 5, 2023

• January 5, 2023 - Agenda

October 20, 2022

• October 20, 2022 - Agenda

July 21, 2022

• July 21, 2022 - Agenda
• Draft Application for Delta Alternative Compliance Plan (ACP) (July 21, 2022)
• Presentation - Preliminary Comparison of Diversion Data and Open ET - Patrick Neu, MBK Engineers

April 21, 2022

• April 21, 2022 - Agenda

January 20, 2022

• January 20, 2022 - Agenda

October 7, 2021

• October 7, 2021 - Agenda

April 29, 2021

• April 29, 2021 - Agenda
• Shapefile Demonstration - Protocols for Polygon Creation in ACP 2.0 - Brett Baker (4/29/2021)

January 28, 2021

• January 28, 2021 - Agenda
• Watermark Engineering Proposal to Collect and Provide Diversion Flow Data at Select Delta Siphons (12/6/2020)

October 15, 2020

• October 15, 2020 – Agenda
• Alternative Compliance Plan Application Form
• SB88 Monitoring Method and Alternative Compliance Plan - Stephanie Tatge, The Nature Conservancy

July 15, 2020

• July 15, 2020 – Agenda

February 27, 2020

• February 27, 2020 – Agenda
• SB 88 Monitoring Method and Alternative Compliance Plan – Stephanie Tatge, The Freshwater Trust

October 24, 2019

• October 24, 2019 – Agenda
• StatenX Update – Kirk Klausmeyer, The Nature Conservancy

July 25, 2019

• July 25, 2019 - Agenda
• StatenX Update - Kirk Klausmeyer, The Nature Conservancy

March 27, 2019

• March 27, 2019 - Agenda
• WQ Consultants Update - Bob Pincus, WQ Consultants
• Update - Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - Anne Williams, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Staten X Update - Kirk Klausmeyer, The Nature Conservanc
• SB88 Monitoring Method and Alternative Compliance Plan - Nick Osman, The Freshwater Trust
• DAMMP Update - Dante Nomellini, Delta Area Measuring Method Program Engineering
• Update - Watermark Engineering - Patrick Stiehr, Watermark Engineering
• Submittal System Telemetry Requirements - Ruey-wen Wang, SWRCB Office of the Delta Watermaster

October 24, 2018

• October 24, 2018 – Agenda
• General Update – Anne Williams, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
• Lessons Learned from Measuring Water Diversions – Kirk Klausmeyer, The Nature Conservancy
• Water Monitoring as a Service – Pat Harrington, WQ Consultants
• Progress Update – Weir Flow and Data for the Pressure Sensor Approach – Patrick Stiehr, Watermark Engineering

July 17, 2018

• July 17, 2018 – Agenda
• SB 88 Monitoring Method and Alternative Compliance Plan, The Freshwater Trust – Nick Osman, TFT
• Central Delta Water Agency — DAMMP Update — Brett Baker, CDWA
• Pilot Reporting Data System Concept Overview — Brent Vanderburgh, SWRCB
• Metropolitan Water District of Southern California – General Update — Anne Williams, MWD
• WQ Consultants Update Report – Bob Pincus, WQ Consultants

April 5, 2018

• April 5, 2018 – Agenda
• Diversion Reporting Data Formats – Ruey-wen Wang - SWRCB
• Description of Pilot Water Use Data Management Project – Greg Gearheart - SWRCB
• Description of Open Evapotranspiration (ET) – Robyn Grimm - EDF
• StatenX Experimental Siphon – Kirk Klausmeyer – TNC
• StatenX Data (April 2018) – Kirk Klausmeyer – TNC
• Demonstration – Mark 1 Software – Bob Pincus - WQ Consultants

February 1, 2018

• February 1, 2018 – Agenda