Services

A water right, the legal entitlement to use water, allows water to be diverted from its source and be put to use in our cities and farms. There are a variety of water right types requiring a permit or license from the California State Water Resources Control Board who assures that water is put to use in the best possible way and is in the public interest. When water users within a watershed are in dispute over legal rights to the water, a court can issue a ruling known as an adjudication. The court decree will define the area of adjudication and typically appoint a Watermaster to administer the court’s decree.

Zanjero works with clients dealing with the characteristics of water rights including strategic consultation, water right applications, transfers, change petitions, for local, public and private clients. Additionally, Zanjero serves as Watermaster in California groundwater and surface water basins.

Climate changes impact your basic operational and design assumptions; from frequency and length of droughts, temporal supply availability, financial resiliency, to even the very core reason for your utility to exist. The future utility will be able to project and predict impacts from a range of potential scenarios and proactively pivot to meet these challenges head on.

Zanjero assists clients with hydrologic modeling, runoff and reservoir analysis, demand-side strategies, groundwater management, integrated resource planning and supply development, and developing regional and State-wide partnerships to strengthen utility resilience.

Greater than the sum of the parts. This also applies to water resources planning. Utilities must integrate all the available tools (and even invent some new ones) to balance society’s demand for water resources with ever-changing availability. Developed with an open mind and willingness to adapt, integrated water resource strategies are the cornerstone of the next generation utility striving to increase its supply resiliency.

Zanjero supports all aspects of integrated resources planning, including demand side and supply side solution sets. Demand side solutions include traditional efficiency and conservation measures, as well as next gen solutions such as land use, service level, and financial modifications. Supply side support helps increase yield and temporal availability of existing supplies and develops alternative supplies perhaps overlooked in the past to enhance reliability.

Reducing carbon emissions is the new norm. Water utilities are uniquely positioned to lead these efforts. Hydropower has been the hallmark of renewable power, but now utilities can integrate solar, wind, and other sources into their renewable portfolios. For those utilities owning watershed lands, carbon is the next commodity that can be managed and sequestered through proper forestry and management efforts increasing the velocity towards meeting carbon reduction goals.

Zanjero supports our clients with renewable power analysis including hydropower optimization, small and utility scale solar programs, and energy market strategy development. Our hallmark service helps clients develop and implement carbon reduction strategies across all business service sectors, including traditional carbon accounting, as well as identifying and developing markets for renewable power generation potential. Microgrids supported through renewable power and storage add to the community resiliency.

Hydropower has a long history of using the force of water flowing in streams and rivers to produce mechanical energy and electricity. Hydropower was one of the first sources of energy used for electricity generation and for about 100 years was the largest source of renewable electricity generation in the U.S. Understanding this important resource and how it’s impacted due to modified hydrologic inputs, emerging regulatory actions, and social changes are all important when considering hydropower long-term decisions.

Zanjero provides a full range of support for hydropower projects including regulatory compliance, environmental, licensing/permitting, optimum facility performance and strategic consulting services for the hydroelectric industry. Due to our extensive experience with FERC licensing and compliance, we can work to develop your FERC license application, capacity amendment application, study plan, and exhibit drawings.

Complex issues require a broad strategy. Just providing a sound engineered project is no longer sufficient. Utilities now link together multiple projects and efforts in an overarching approach. The program manager must be able to manage the technical analysis, regulatory environment, local and regional agency partnerships, stakeholders, financial analysis, and public outreach for successful program implementation.

Zanjero understands the issues and nuances of all these elements and orchestrates implementation through detailed program management support, developing and driving the core message and focusing on results throughout implementation.

We are transitioning from the age of expansion into utility sustainability and resiliency. Maintaining existing infrastructure is the largest cost burden for any utility. Limited funds must be applied with accuracy and perfect timing to efficiently and effectively maximize asset life. Knowing what to fix, how to fix it, and when to replace is the simple solution, but finding those answers is a complex balance of financial, community, and regulatory considerations.

Zanjero helps utilities answers these questions through strategic asset management plans, Capital Improvement Program development, computerized maintenance management systems, risk analysis, regulatory compliance strategies, and infrastructure financial analysis.

Proper governance, policy, and organizational structure are the hallmarks of any sustainable and resilient utility, anywhere in the world. Zanjero provides management consulting expertise to assist water and power utilities in developing countries through collaboration with the IMF, World Bank, USAID, and other donor-funded programs.

Zanjero’s legal team has particular expertise with issue mediation, interest based negotiations and settlement preparation associated with water resource management.

Water Neutral is a fully integrated water credit ecosystem empowering water asset holders and entities of any size to take part in a reputable water credit program and marketplace that advances water sustainability and long-term water equity across the globe. Water rights holders use the market exchange to convert their eligible water assets and sustainability activities into water credits. For entities looking to buy water credits, the Water Neutral marketplace offers a straightforward and credible means for fulfilling climate action, net-zero, or corporate ESG goals. As a complete solution, Water Neutral goes beyond a traditional marketplace. The program is governed by the Water Neutral Standard, a separate nonprofit that ensures accountability, transparency and integrity of all water sustainability programs, and serves as an international standard for the water credit market. 

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Water Neutral
Water Neutral Standard