About the Water Resources Center

History

The Water Resources Center (WRC) was funded by the California State Legislature in 1957 for the purpose of providing training and research to complement the State Water Project. In 1964 the federal Water Resources Research Act authorized the establishment of a federal research institute in each state. California's governor, Edmund Brown designated the California Water Resources Center as the federal research institute for the state.

Mission

The WRC engages the resources of the University of California with other institutions in the state for the purpose of developing ecologically-sound and economically efficient water management policies and programs in California.

The WRC fulfills this mission by stimulating and supporting water-related research and education activities among the various academic departments and research organizations of the university through grants. It collects historic and other documents related to water topics through the Water Resources Center Archives (located on the UC Berkeley campus) and makes the collection available to the public.

Advisory Council

The WRC is governed by an Advisory Council and Coordinating Board. The Advisory Council consists of representatives of the Department of Water Resources, State Water Resources Control Board, California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Geological Survey as well as at-large membership from the water community.

Coordinating Board

The Coordinating Board is comprised of academic senate members from the UC campuses and serves as the governing body of the WRC. The Council participates with the Coordinating Board members in reviewing research proposals, serving on committees and discussing business matters at the semi-annual meeting. The final decision on funding research proposals and matters which require a formal vote is reserved for the Coordinating Board.