In the summer of 1998, the CALFED Bay-Delta Program was looking moribund to some observers. Stakeholders had quite different expectations and hopes for the Bay-Delta area, and it was becoming apparent that the CALFED program would be unable to meet some of those expectations and hopes. A sense of disappointment threatened to lead to disengagement from the process.

Out of this context, the question was asked whether southern California urban water interests were reaching out to environmental interests, and whether any commonality of interest existed between the two groups. The uncomfortable answer to this question was "probably not." All of the discussion regarding the Bay-Delta seemed to occur in northern California, and no serious dialogue took place among diverse southern California stakeholders.

On August 25, 1998, the dynamics changed. The first, exploratory meeting was held of what came to be called the Southern California Water Dialogue. Focused initially on CALFED, the invitation to meet expressed concern that "important stakeholders … may be locked into intractable positions," making impossible the goal of "reaching common ground..." The meeting was put together by Tim Worley (then Director of Public Affairs for Three Valleys Municipal Water District), in partnership with Mary Ann Dickinson and Ane Deister (both then with Metropolitan Water District). These three water agency employees drew upon their relationships with some leaders of the southern California environmental community to open dialogue. Participants in the initial meeting expressed a desire to continue the dialogue, and it continues to this day.

Links to past presentations and webinars can be found on this website under Meetings, Presentations and at https://www.socalwaterdialogue.org/calendar/papers.html.  A representative list of the past topics presented by the Water Dialogue include the following:

• Atmospheric Rivers and Improved Forecasting
• LA’s Groundwater Cleanup Accelerates
• Predicting Future Water Availability in a Changing Climate
• Investments in Drought-Proofing are Paying Off in Southern California. But How Long Will Supplies Last if Drought Persists?
• The Great Colorado River Drought Worsens: What Does That Mean for California?
• Onsite Non-Potable Water Use: Building Drought Resiliency from the Bottom Up
• Update on Proposed Regional Recycled Water Program 
• California’s Mega-fires: More in Our Future
• The Energy-Water Nexus: How to Decarbonize our Water
• PFAS and Forever Chemicals: Update on Agency Actions
• Opportunities to Capture Stormwater: A Look at the Measure W Process and Other Successful Stormwater/Greenspace Projects
• Salton Sea – Turning Promises into Projects
• Can California Adapt to More Frequent Flooding and Drought?
• Water Agencies of Tomorrow: Adaptation, Revision and Change
• Drought-Prone Chaparral in the Face of Changing Fire
• A Wave of Change: The Revolution in Big Data for Water Use Efficiency and Water
• Invasive Species
• Can NASA/JPL Help Pull California Through the Next Drought? 
• Moving Forward on Funding Stormwater Capture and Treatment

One of the chief benefits of the Water Dialogue has been to educate each other on technical issues and value positions. Another has been to challenge each other's assumptions and stretch peoples' minds to a new understanding of issues and opportunities that we face. Participants have identified numerous areas of general agreement and commonality of interest, where all parties can move ahead secure in the knowledge of mutual support. This mutual support is expected to translate into new and stronger partnerships between southern California water agencies and organizations and regional, state and federal agencies.