Candidate for
Board of Directors; San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District; Division 3

The greatest challenge we face as Water District Directors is providing water to meet the needs of the residents who are here today plus those that will be here in the future while at the same time protecting the Delta environment and accommodating the impacts of long term climate change. We will not stop growth. As a water utility, we must use the existing water supply efficiently and develop new sources as needed to meet the growth that inevitably will occur.

Many people ask me if we are going to "run out of water." The answer is a very simple "NO." We will only run out of "cheap, inexpensive water." New souces of supply needed to meet future needs are going to be very expensive. Although the technologies are there to desalt ocean water, the costs are high.

The Delta is a fragile ecosystem; recent court decisions to protect endangered species have cut into the available imported water supply from Northern California that we have counted on for decades. These decisions must be respected; they are here and we need to deal with them. Somewhere, somehow we will need to make up this loss. We can do this by increased conservation efforts and recycling. This is the cheapest source of water.

We will also have to make some structural modifications in the Delta to preserve water quality during dry periods and to capture the flood flows which will occur. All stakeholders must compromise. Climate change will result in changes to the hydrology. Experts have indicated that droughts will be more severe, the warmer temperatures will reduce our snowpack. Runoff will be earlier in the season and will be at higher flows than we currently experience with the snowpack.

We will need to construct canals and pipelines to groundwater recharge sites where we can store the water. We will likely need added surface storage to "park" water for short time periods until we can move it to the remote recharge areas. This as a major conflict with a number of environmental groups. Compromise is necessary here. Some of this storage may be able to be obtained by modifying the operational levels (operating rules) in our existing reservoirs. Again compromise between flood control and water conservation interests is needed.

Since we are using the groundwater basins for storage, we will need to make sure they are not contaminated with agricultural and septic tank pollutants. Those groundwater resources that are already contaminated need to be cleaned up. Desalination of brackish groundwater and ocean water will continue to grow. We can't overlook this source; but it is very energy intensive and generates a waste stream that must be appropriately disposed of. We also cannot say this is the answer for the future, because it will not be unless there is a major technology breakthrough to reduce the carbon footprint of desalination. I see brackish water desalting having a greater share of the water supply market however.

One of the best ways of dealing with these problems is to make the public aware of the issues, alternatives and solutions. The public will support and buy into the solutions if they are fully informed of the issues and the compromises that have been made. They need to see all sides of the story. This is where I, as a Director and educator, can make a difference. I have the background and have credibility.

To ensure local supplies, I am committed to bringing recycled water into Monterey Park for irrigation through the Central Basin MWD project and support the demonstration recharge project which has be studied to death since 1992. I find it very frustrating that, after all these years, we still don't have the project implemented. This is not due to lack of support on my part, but rather regulatory hurdles and public perception + the "yuck" factor.

I continue to support current efforts and believe in increases water conservation efforts by suggesting additional incentives for other programs other than toilets. These include smart controllers for large landscape areas, incentives to convert to drought tolerant landscaping and possibly synthetic turf incentives. The District has its H2Owl program in place to educate the youngsters which will go a long way to help educate the older generation -- many of whom do not speak English in Monterey Park.