President's Message - Board Adopts Water Reliability Goal
Shawn Dewane
The Orange County Water District (OCWD; District) manages the groundwater basin
that underlies north and central Orange County and provides water for 2.4 million
people. In looking to the future it continues to be the mission of OCWD to provide
local water retailers with a reliable, adequate, high-quality water supply at the
lowest reasonable cost in an environmentally responsible manner.
In January, the OCWD Board of Directors affirmed its mission by adopting a resolution
to develop the necessary supplies and facilities to work toward achieving and maintaining
a 75 percent basin production percentage (BPP) in fiscal year 2015-16 when the
Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) Initial Expansion project is fully on-line.
The BPP indicates how much water local water retailers can pump from the basin.
A higher BPP allows retailers to pump more groundwater and purchase less imported
water, which is more costly. The basin currently supplies 68 percent of the water
supply to north and central Orange County.
The District would transition to the desired BPP over the next three years. To achieve
the 75 percent BPP the Board resolved to do the following: evaluate and undertake
economical projects and programs and create, acquire and/or purchase economical
water supplies to annually recharge the groundwater basin.
The District is able to work towards achieving a higher BPP because of years of
sound planning and appropriate investment in the groundwater basin and water supply
projects. Over the years, OCWD has more than doubled the basin's output of water.
The Board may deviate from the BPP goal when conditions warrant, such as experiencing
long-term droughts, and reduce it when necessary to protect the groundwater basin
from an excessive accumulated overdraft.
OCWD is committed to water supply & reliability, water quality, environmental stewardship,
sound financial management and industry leadership & innovation. The Board will
continue to support resolutions and projects that strengthen these commitments.
GROUNDWATER AGENCY TECHNICAL EXCHANGE (GATE)
Last month, OCWD hosted a Groundwater Agency Technical Exchange meeting at its field
headquarters in Anaheim, which was attended by eight Southern California agencies.
GATE's mission is to share information about groundwater basins and keep abreast
of technical and regulatory challenges facing agencies.
Future GATE meetings will be held under the auspices of the Association of Groundwater
Agencies (AGWA); however, membership to AGWA will not be a requirement to participate.
It is anticipated the group will meet two times per year; the next meeting is tentatively
scheduled for early September 2013. Possible future topics of discussion include:
how groundwater basins determine the amount of water in storage, how they calculate
the yearly storage changes, the management of storage credits in adjudicated basins
and operational issues.
The District actively participates in working groups such as GATE to further the
advancement of groundwater management and water supply.
OCWD STAFF ELECTED TO GRA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OCWD Recharge Planning Manager Adam Hutchinson was elected to serve on the Board
of Directors of the Groundwater Resources Association of California (GRA) for a
three year term ending in 2016. Adam has been an employee of OCWD since 2000, starting
as a senior hydrogeologist and then serving for seven years as director of recharge
operations. He currently serves as the recharge planning manager where he is responsible
for overseeing multi-department efforts to maximize OCWD's existing recharge
capacity as well as examine new ways to increase it.
OCWD STAFF RECEIVES PASMA APPOINMENT
Effective January 1, 2013, OCWD Risk & Safety Manager Paula Bouyounes was elected
vice president of the Public Agency Safety Management Association (PASMA) Board.
Paula has been employed at the District since January 2012.
PASMA is a growing non-profit organization that consists of occupational safety,
health and risk management professionals from a variety of public agencies throughout
California. Paula's work with PASMA will help OCWD improve its safety management
program by staying abreast of emerging programs, state and federal health and safety
compliance issues and relevant legislative proposals. PASMA member agencies include
cities, counties, port authorities, transit districts, school districts and other
academic agencies, utilities, joint powers authorities, flood control districts,
and other special districts. For more information about PASMA, please visit
www.pasmaonline.org.
FESTIVAL CALL FOR SPONSORS, PRESENTERS AND VOLUNTEERS
There's still time to be a part of the excitement that is the Children's
Water Education Festival! Presented by the Orange County Water District (OCWD),
Disneyland Resort, the National Water Research Institute and OCWD's Groundwater
Guardian Team, the Festival will be held at the University of California, Irvine
(UCI) on March 27-28. More than 7,000 third, fourth and fifth grade Orange County
students are registered to attend this free field trip to learn about water and
the environment. Since its inception, the Festival has taught more than 95,000 Orange
County students about water and how to protect natural resources.
To sponsor, donate supplies, volunteer or present an activity, contact Amanda Gavin
at (714) 378-3202 or
agavin@ocwd.com.
To register, go to
www.ocwd.com
or direct to
www.childrenwaterfestival.com.
GIFT OF HISTORY
The Orange County Water District is proud to support the Gift of History, an educational
program to teach Orange County third-grade students about the county's rich
history. More than 15,000 children attended a Gift of History event at Angel's
Stadium and received an Orange County history book entitled Nothing Rhymes with
Orange. The program engages students in a history lesson in a fun and creative
way and inspires them to be leaders in their communities and make their mark in
shaping Orange County's future.
OCWD commends participating teachers and students' involvement and thanks those
who communicated gratitude to the District for supporting this important educational
event. Please visit
www.giftofhistory.org
to learn more about the program. Its next event will take place on November 7, 2013.
OCWD RECOGNIZES EMPLOYEE SERVICE
The Orange County Water District recently recognized employees for five years or
more of employment and dedicated service. Currently, the District employs 229 people
at its facilities in Fountain Valley, Anaheim and the Prado Wetlands in Corona.
OCWD recognizes the dedication and commitment of its employees whose work facilitates
its mission. Following is a complete list of those recognized:
35 years of service: Jeremy Davis, John Souza
25 years of service: Chris McConaughy, Cathy Skousen, Art Tabata,
John Vandenbergh, Nira Yamachika
20 years of service: Menu Leddy, Justin McKeever,
15 years of service: Mehul Patel, John Pham, Marc Wedge, Greg Woodside
10 years of service: Michell Boyd, Frank Duarte, Tim Stevens, Pat
Versluis, Jeannie Young
5 years of service: Scott Brandon, Ramon Camacho, Scott Davidson,
Mike Ewing, Don Haffke, Scott Hollender, Jeff Kirkwood, Phuong Lam, Derrick Mansell,
David McMichael, Tyson Neely, Craig Patterson, Prem Parmar, Bob Phillips, Rusty
Sutton, Eleanor Torres, Luis Torres, Ritchie Valdez, Marsha Westropp, Chris Wilson,
Wei Xu
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
The OCWD employee of the month (EOM) program was established to recognize outstanding
District employees and to acknowledge their contributions to OCWD. The program recognizes
employees for high quality work, promoting team work, cost saving ideas and a high
level of dedication to their work. The District recognizes that OCWD employees are
the source of its strength, reputation and innovation.
Jim Hammersmith was recognized as February EOM for his work to help equip over 60
wells with new pressure transmitters. He assisted in researching the correct operating
range for the units and in developing a field test. Jim also went the extra mile
and saved the District a significant amount of money by negotiating a discount with
the pressure transmitter manufacturer on a future order. Congratulations Jim!
WELCOME NEW OCWD EMPLOYEE
In January Kristen Yu became a member of the OCWD family. OCWD's Advanced Water
Quality Assurance Laboratory welcomed her as an intern who serves as a laboratory
technician.
Kristen is a student at Chapman University. Welcome!
JANUARY TOURS
In January there were 15 tours hosted for approximately 156 guests. The following
is a list of those tours: monthly public tour, new members and alternates on the
Orange County
Sanitation District Board of Directors, environmental science students from Dana
Hills High School, a student from Hope International University, a staff member
from Goleta Sanitation, a group from Trojan Technologies and Hach Company, staff
from AMEC, staff from Conwed Global Netting Solutions, executive management from
CSM's Anaheim and Korea membrane manufacturing facilities, representatives from
Discovery Science Center, University of California, Irvine American Institute of
Chemical Engineers, twelve members of the Orange County Grand Jury's Environmental
Committee and a staff member from Analytical West of Taiwan.
Public tours of the Groundwater Replenishment System are offered at
10 a.m. on the first Friday of every month; reservations are required. Tours may be scheduled for other days of the week, depending on staff availability. To schedule a tour or to request more information, please contact Becky Mudd at (714) 378-3362 or
bmudd@ocwd.com. To schedule a speaker, please contact Rose Wilke at (714) 378-3206 or
rwilke@ocwd.com. You may also visit
www.ocwd.com to schedule these activities online.
CONTACT US
www.ocwd.com
18700 Ward Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
(714) 378-3200
info@ocwd.com
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