President's Message - 80th Anniversary Local Event

Shawn Dewane

The District's longest standing Director, Kathryn Barr, was also recognized for 34 years of service. Director Barr took a moment to acknowledge several former board members who were present at the reception, including Dan Griset (1992-1998), Brett Franklin (2000-2005), Jerry King (1998-2002), Claudia Alvarez (2007-2012), Paul Cook (2002-2006), Don Bankhead (2009-2012) and John Fonley (1975-2000). Former General Manager Bill Mills (1987-2002) was also recognized during the event.

It was an honor to be a part of OCWD's 80th anniversary celebration and to acknowledge its many milestones. The District will continue to provide a reliable water supply through innovative programs and effective management. Here's to another 80 years!

(Please click on the OCWD's 80th Anniversary press release to view.)

Seniors Making a Difference

In California, May is recognized as Senior Volunteer Month. In an effort to highlight the contributions of local senior citizens, Senator Lou Correa, California Senate District 34, and Acacia Adult Day Health Services partnered to honor community senior volunteers. Award nominations were submitted in May and recipients were recognized last month at the 2013 Senior Making a Difference Awards Recognition Breakfast.

OCWD extends special congratulations to Claire Neises (pictured above with Senator Correa and OCWD Director Vincent Sarmiento) and Melva Snyder who received the Seniors Making a Difference Award. Claire and Melva were recognized for their long-standing volunteerism at OCWD's Children's Water Education Festival (Festival), which educates nearly 7,000 third, fourth and fifth grade students annually about the environment. The Festival is presented by OCWD, Disneyland Resort, the National Water Research Institute and OCWD's Groundwater Guardian Team. Claire and Melva participate at Festival through the Disneyland VoluntEARS program, which provides nearly 200 VoluntEARS each year. Together Claire and Melva greet more than 400 volunteers at the Festival assisting them with check-in and event assignments.

OCWD thanks Claire and Melva for sharing their tireless energy and enthusiasm and for their continued support of the Festival; they are truly inspiring. For more information about the Festival and how to get involved, please visit www.childrenwaterfestival.com.

Construction Corner

OCWD has a long, rich history of planning, designing, constructing, operating and managing numerous facilities and pipelines throughout north and central Orange County. Maintaining these regional investments is vital to sustaining groundwater supplies. Two OCWD construction projects recently began in an effort to improve District operations and maintain related structures and equipment: the Burris Basin Pump Station Replacement Project and the Green Acres Project (GAP) Pipeline Repair Project. Impacted residents and businesses have been notified about these projects and their potential impacts and will continue to be apprised of any unforeseeable schedule changes.

This month, OCWD began draining one of its most critical recharge basins, Burris Basin, in preparation for construction of a new pump station. Burris Basin is located adjacent to the Santa Ana River between Lincoln Avenue and Ball Road in Anaheim. The Burris Basin Pump Station Replacement Project is divided into two phases: July 2013 through November 2013 and January 2014 through January 2015. The first phase includes pumping water out of Burris Basin to empty portions of it and prepare for construction activities. The second phase includes construction of the new pump station and demolition of the old station. The basin will be refilled to its normal operating water level and the new pump station will begin operations by January 2015.

In June, OCWD began repairing a portion of the GAP pipeline located in Newport Beach. The GAP is a water recycling effort that came online in 1991 and provides reclaimed water for landscape irrigation at parks, schools and golf courses as well as for industrial uses. OCWD provides nearly 5,500 acre-feet of GAP water to customers in Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Santa Ana, and portions of Irvine and Tustin. The construction project will take up to five months to complete. The pipeline repair work will occur on the bridge that crosses the Back Bay on Jamboree Road; the bridge is located on Jamboree Road between Bayview Way and Eastbluff Drive/University Drive.

For more information about OCWD's construction projects, please visit http://www.ocwd.com/ProgramsProjects/ConstructionUpdates.aspx.

OCWD Welcomes a New Employee

June Tours

The Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) and the Advanced Water Quality Assurance Laboratory continue to draw large numbers of guests from around the globe. During the fiscal year 2012-2013, the district conducted 168 tours for nearly 4,000 guests. OCWD was honored to host 135 tour attendees in June 2013. The following is a list of those tours: the GWRS monthly public tour; water treatment students from California State University, Pomona; staff from the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power; a board member from the Water Corporation of Australia; representatives from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board; representatives from the Thailand Department of Groundwater Resources, along with staff from CH2M-Hill; a representative of Korea Public Health & Environment Research Institute; new board members from the Orange County Sanitation District; staff members from the city of Brea; guests from Bolivia; staff and students from the University of Southern California Electrical Engineering Department with students they are hosting from the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi; students from the University of California, Irvine Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

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.