OCWD Board of Directors
President
Cathy Green
First Vice President
Denis R. Bilodeau, P.E.
Second Vice President
Philip L. Anthony
Jordan Brandman
Shawn Dewane
Jan M. Flory, ESQ.
Dina L. Nguyen, ESQ.
Roman Reyna
Stephen R. Sheldon
Roger C. Yoh, P.E.
General Manager
Michael R. Markus
P.E., D.WRE.




Out in the
Community
As part of its standard to forge and maintain long-term, positive and proactive relationships with members of the community and be transparent about its operations and programs, OCWD board members and staff participate, regularly, at community events and speak before civic groups. We participated in the following during June:
  • OCWD General Manager Mike Markus attended the Southern California Water Committee workshop and participated in a panel regarding the watershed-wide (five SAWPA member agency) conjunctive use project that was recently awarded $55 million in grant funding through the third round of Proposition 84.
  • Director of Engineering Chris Olsen and Chief Hydrogeologist Roy Herndon attended the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Director's meeting and presented an update on the Mid Basin Injection Project.
  • Principal Process Specialist Tom Knoell presented a paper at the AWWA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim. The paper's focus was the optimization of GWRS operations through the development of enhanced water quality profiling using non-traditional techniques.
  • Engineering staff attended and provided information at the kick-off and progress meetings for the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) lead SP-173 Effluent Reuse Study. This study will evaluate options for segregating SARI discharges and will also evaluate several options of increasing OCSD's wastewater inflows to accommodate the additional secondary treated effluent for the final expansion of the GWRS.
  • Planning and Watershed staff attended a meeting of the Imported Water Recharge Work Group at SAWPA. Work group members, including OCWD, will be submitting a report to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board that summarizes the volume of imported water recharged during calendar years 2012-2014 and the flow weighted average of total dissolved solids and nitrate in the recharged water.
  • OCWD Recharge Planning Manager Adam Hutchinson participated in the first of two roundtable discussions hosted by the California Water Foundation to discuss a white paper written by the Union of Concerned Scientists on Sustainable Groundwater Measureable Objectives. The goal of the roundtables and white paper is to supply California Department of Water Resources (DWR) with a document that will assist it in drafting regulations for groundwater sustainability plans.
  • Staff from Engineering, Planning, and Public Affairs attended a neighborhood association meeting in the City of Santa Ana to discuss the upcoming Mid-Basin Injection Well Project in Centennial Park. This is the second community meeting for this project. Construction of the project is estimated to begin in early 2017.
  • Public Affairs Director Eleanor Torres participated on a panel about drought with other public relations professionals at the North County Legislative Alliance in Brea.
  • OCWD Recharge Planning Manager Adam Hutchinson participated in the Groundwater Resources Association of California's (GRA) Sustainable Groundwater Management Committee meeting with DWR staff. This was the first of several meetings with DWR to assist them in developing regulations required in the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
  • OCWD Chief Hydrogeologist Roy Herndon participated in an advisory panel meeting hosted by the State Department of Water Resources as it plans implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Discussion topics included whether it was practical to establish minimum basin management standards to protect against impacts such as seawater intrusion, land subsidence, and storage.

To schedule an OCWD expert to speak to your organization, please contact Rose Wilke at (714) 378-3206 or rwilke@ocwd.com.