Oakland, CA, February 26, 2026 – The Pacific Institute today announced that Cora Snyder, program manager, has been appointed by the California Department of Water Resources to serve on the California Water Plan 2028 Advisory Committee. This Water Plan is a multi-year effort to modernize statewide water planning and deliver a more action-oriented, measurable blueprint for long-term water resilience.
“It’s an honor to serve on this committee. As a lifelong Californian, I have deep appreciation for the ecosystems, economies, and communities in this state. We all depend on water, and the availability and reliability of our shared water resources are under threat. I look forward to working with DWR, my fellow advisory committee members, and the public to inform a positive path toward water resilience for California.”
This Advisory Committee is a statutory body to inform development of the 2028 California Water Plan and help guide the development of quantitative targets to achieve 9 million acre-feet per year of additional water supply, water conservation, or water storage capacity by 2040. The committee will provide input on key policy and technical issues, review draft materials, help identify practical strategies to close statewide and watershed-level supply gaps, and serve as a two-way conduit between DWR and diverse constituencies across the state.
Snyder was selected for the Advisory Committee through her role as manager of the California Water Resilience Initiative. In her work on the Advisory Committee, Snyder will work to support alignment of private-sector investment, innovation, and engagement with state targets and are integrated into long-term water resilience strategies. Snyder will also represent the Pacific Institute’s longstanding research-based recommendations for California’s water supply alternatives, including its pioneering Untapped Potential research.
Since joining the Pacific Institute in 2017, Snyder has worked on corporate water stewardship, water efficiency and reuse, and California and Colorado River water issues. Before joining the Pacific Institute, Snyder’s work focused on environmental water markets, water law and policy, and behavioral science techniques to encourage residential water conservation. Snyder holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies with a minor in Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She also holds a master’s of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UCSB, where she was a Sustainable Water Markets Fellow.