President's Message
Shawn Dewane
Orange County Water District (OCWD; District) manages one of the County's most
valuable resources, the groundwater basin. It provides reliable, high quality groundwater
to 19 municipal and special water districts that serve 2.4 million customers in
north and central Orange County.
Managing the basin includes establishing a yearly basin production percentage (BPP)
and a replenishment assessment (RA). The BPP is the amount of water cities and water
districts can pump from the basin as a percentage of their total water demands and
the RA is what they pay the District to pump it.
The OCWD Board of Directors recently approved increasing the BPP from 68 to 70 percent
for fiscal year 2013-2014 (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014). This is the third consecutive
year the Board has increased the BPP, which increases local water reliability. It
also provides cost savings to the municipalities and water districts OCWD serves
as they are able to decrease the amount of costly imported water they purchase.
Groundwater is about one-third of the cost of imported water.
Increasing the BPP to 70 percent is part of the District's overall goal to gradually
increase it to 75 percent following the completion of the GWRS Initial Expansion
(GWRSIE) in 2015. The expansion will allow the District to recharge an additional
30,000 acre-feet of water per year into the groundwater basin, which supports a
higher BPP.
The Board also approved increasing the replenishment assessment from $266 to $276
per acre-foot. This increase is necessary to begin funding the additional expenses
incurred when the GWRSIE is fully on-line. Groundwater remains a significant value.
OCWD will continue to effectively manage the basin and carry out its mission to
provide local water retailers with a reliable, adequate, high quality water supply
at the lowest reasonable cost in an environmentally responsible manner.
OCWD Celebrates 80 Years
Orange County Water District was formed in 1933 by a special act of the California
State Legislature to manage and protect the Orange County Groundwater Basin and
protect Orange County's rights to water in the Santa Ana River. This year marks
its 80th anniversary. To commemorate this important milestone it hosted a reception
and was recognized on the floors of the California State Assembly and Senate with
a resolution commending its accomplishments.
OCWD Directors Cathy Green, Harry Sidhu, Bruce Whitaker, Roger Yoh and General Manager
Mike Markus were on hand to receive resolutions presented by Assembly Member Sharon
Quirk-Silva and Senator Lou Correa. OCWD was honored to receive this recognition
and commended the Orange County Delegation, and the entire Legislature, for its
support in helping OCWD protect the basin.
Please click
here
to view a press release about the event and OCWD's 80th anniversary. A local
event honoring the Orange County Congressional Delegation and past board members
will take place on June 21.
The 2013 OC Water Summit
The 6th annual OC Water Summit took place on May 17th at the Grand Californian
Hotel at the Disneyland Resort where nearly 400 community members; business professionals;
international, national and state water stakeholders; elected officials; environmentalists;
scientists; and civic leaders gathered to discuss the past, present and future of
California's water supplies and delivery systems.
Summit attendees enjoyed a dynamic program featuring speakers such as, Richard Riordan,
Entrepreneur, Philanthropist & Former Mayor of Los Angeles; Peter McBride, co-author
of "The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict" (2010) and director
of "Chasing Water;" Patricia Mulroy, General Manager, Southern Nevada
Water Authority; and California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer. Through panels, discussions
and presentations, attendees and participants acknowledged the efforts of the past
and explored the opportunities ahead of us.
The future of water reliability will include many players and solutions - we are
all a part of it. Thank you to all the attendees, sponsors and speakers for your
support of this year's event. Stay involved and let's continue the dialogue
at next year's Summit!
The Summit is presented by the Orange County Water District, Disneyland Resort and
the Municipal Water District of Orange County. For a complete list of speakers and
sponsors or to view video and presentations from the event, please visit
www.ocwatersummit.com.
OCWD and Staff Recognized by SWMOA
Southwest Membrane Operators Association (SWMOA) recognized OCWD and OCWD Principal
Process Engineer & GWRS Program Manager Mehul Patel, P.E., with Distinguished Service
Awards. Patel received the award for five years of service on the SWMOA Board of
Directors, and OCWD for allowing its staff to participate and contribute to the
goals and mission of the Association.
The SWMOA is an affiliate of the American Membrane Technology Association and dedicated
to the Southwest United States region. It is a membrane operators group formed to
provide a forum to exchange information, share experiences and knowledge, obtain
training and acquire continuing education credits. Furthermore, it is an information
resource for elected officials, utility managers and the public who are using or
considering using a
membrane-based treatment plant. For more information about the organization, please
visit
www.swmoa.org.
Environmental Communications Award
The Orange County Water District recently received the Environmental Communications
Honor Award from the American Academy of Environmental
Engineers & Scientists (AAEES) for its outreach campaign for the Groundwater
Replenishment System (GWRS). The campaign's success resulted in the completion,
ongoing operation and current expansion of the world's largest advanced water
purification facility for potable reuse.
The aggressive outreach campaign included hundreds of stakeholders, started several
years before the project came on-line in 2008 and continues today. OCWD seeks to
inform stakeholders about water recycling, its multiple benefits and the proven
technology it uses. Furthermore, the outreach campaign serves as a model to garner
support for national and international water recycling projects and addresses the
negative perception of recycling wastewater for drinking water purposes.
To view the complete press release about the award, please click
here.
OCWD Engineer's Report
The District recently published the 2011-2012 Engineer's Report, which includes
extensive information about OCWD's groundwater conditions, water supply and
basin utilization. The yearly report is compiled in accordance with Section 26 of
the District Act and is used as a resource to help determine the annual basin pumping
percentage.
To view this report in its entirety, please click
here.
May and June 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 commends
employees for high quality work, promoting team work, cost saving ideas and a high
level of dedication to their work. The District recognizes OCWD employees are the
source of its strength, reputation and innovation. Rusty Sutton and Don Houlihan
were recently recognized for their leadership.
Rusty was the May EOM. As operations shift supervisor IV, he provides outstanding
leadership on his shift as well as within the operations' group. Rusty has been
a great leader in the training and development of several operators who were hired
when the GWRS came on-line. His experience in the industry and knowledge of processes
have greatly benefited the District's operational goals. Rusty also recently
developed and implemented an inventory management system for personal protective
equipment (PPE), which fosters safe and efficient work practices.
Don is the June EOM. He was recently promoted to recharge operations supervisor.
His responsibilities include planning for storms and imported water deliveries,
managing the movement of water around the District's recharge operations &
conveyances, and scheduling basin cleanings and maintenance at numerous geographically
diverse locations. Don's experience, work ethic and natural ability to lead
have served as a great example to others.
April and May Tours
During the months of April and May 41 tours were given to 918 guests. Following
is a list of those tours: the monthly public tours; students from Fairplex Pomona
High School; students from Rancho Alamitos High School toured as part of the OC
Coastkeepers WHALES program; students from Coastline Community College; representatives
from Santa Clara Valley Water District; students from Trade Tech High School; staff
from Water Asset management, LLC; representatives of the American Academy of Environmental
Engineers & Scientists; members of the L.A./O.C. Industry Advisory Council; University
of California, Irvine Assistant Professor Diego Rosso and a delegation from Saudi
Arabia; the Mesa Water Issues Study Group; nursing students from California State
University, Fullerton; a large group from the Association of Women in Water, Energy
& Environment; Fountain Valley High School students; operators from Los Angeles
Department of Water & Power; University of California, Irvine Environmental
Science students; Edison High School students; a delegation from Korea; STEM students
from Santa Ana College; California State University, Long Beach nursing students;
members of the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency; students from Chapman
University; staff from Hampton Roads Sanitary District of Virginia Beach; Congressman
Rohrabacher and ambassadors from Azerbaijan; a visiting civil engineer and senior
researcher from Tampere University of Technology (Finland); water treatment students
from Mount San Jacinto College; the Bolsa Chica Conservancy Board of Directors;
students from California State University, Pomona; a representative from the Pacific
Pension Institute; representatives from RHL Industries; staff from Eastern Municipal
Water District; staff from Congressman Dana Rohrabacher's office; water distribution
students from Citrus College; geology students from California State University,
Fullerton; students from Godinez High School; a professor from California State
University, Pomona and a representative from the Building Industries of America.
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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