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

Personal Philosophy

I am fiscally very conservative. My constituents work hard for their money and they want to see a water district run efficiently. The San Gabriel Valley MWD is one of the most efficiently run water districts in Southern California, if not California overall. We have reduced staff from 8 full time positions to 6 full time and no part time positions since I have been on the board. My philosophy is to look for outside sources rather than hire additional staff.

We cut the number of board meetings from 2 per month to 1 per month, cutting director compensation in half.

Although I am entitled to more compensation, I have maintained my compensations to $100 per meeting, the same as it was in 1989 when I first joined the board.

I want San Gabriel Valley MWD to be model for all water districts in terms of efficiency, financial stability and operation.

Community Outreach

The District has been very pro-active in their community outreach. We developed our unique H2OWL mascot program involving local middle-grade students. They participate in City functions and events, distributing water conservation literature and making the public aware of the need to conserve water.

We have been very active with the grade schools with our home water conservation survey/questionnaire. Students take these home and work with their parents in filling out the forms. This makes the students and their parents aware of the need to conserve. This program has been very successful.

We hosted a very successful Asian Community/Business leader luncheon in Monterey Park to educate them on the water supply issues facing the state and the District.

Our District was the leader and the impetus behind the recent San Gabriel Valley Water Forum. There were over 300 attendees from educational institutions, businesses, labor organizations, local, state and federal government agencies, newspapers, and residents and environmental and community activists.

I urge you to visit the website for the San Gabriel Valley MWD" .

Our outreach program is second to none.

My Plans

My plans are to continue with what we are doing. It is going well. As they say, "if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it."

Water Supply

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 wisely and 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 sources of supply needed to meet future needs are going to be very expensive. Although the technologies are there to desalt ocean water, the energy commitments and costs are high.

The Delta and Climate Change

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. Conservation 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 Sierra Nevada hydrology. Experts have indicated that droughts will be more severe, the warmer temperatures will reduce our snowpack. The snowpack is our largest and least expensive reservoir. Winter precipitation is stored in the snowpack to be released slowly in the late spring and early summer as the snow melts. Climate change will alter this pattern. Warmer climate brings warm rain and less snowfall. 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 facilities to transport this water 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.

Climate change will increase stress on the levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Sea level rise and higher flood flows mean higher water levels in the Delta resulting in substantial higher loads on these very old levees.

I have significant engineering experience in this area and will make sure that the solutions that are developed are sound, financial feasible and environmentally acceptable.

Groundwater Storage and Clean-up

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. Our San Gabriel Valley MWD was the leading force calling for the formation of a Joint Powers Agency to implement clean-up in our valley. This JPA eventually evolved into the Water Quality Authority. I served as the District's representative on the Water Quality Authority; in fact I was one of "founding members" in the very early 90's. This agency has made substantial progress in the area of clean-up; however much remains to be done.

Desalination

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.

Summary

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, extensive experience and credibility.

I have been a strong supporter of bringing in recycled water to the City of Monterey Park for irrigation of our parks. However, it must be through a program with guarantees of supply. We cannot invest millions of dollars without the certainty of receiving a specific amount of recycled water for a reasonable price.