MWDOC Board of Directors

Wayne A. Clark, President

Joan C. Finnegan, Vice President
Ergun Bakall, Director
Brett R. Barbre, Director
Larry D. Dick, Director

Susan Hinman, Director
Ed Royce, Sr., Director

Kevin P. Hunt, General Manager

Calendar of Events

MWDOC PAL Committee Mtg:
January 21 @ MWDOC
18700 Ward Street, Fountain Valley

MWD Executive Committee Mtg:
January 22 @ MWD
700 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles

MWDOC/OCWD Joint Board Mtg:
January 23 @ MWDOC
18700 Ward Street, Fountain Valley

ISDOC Quarterly Mtg:
January 31 @ Mesa Consolidated WD 1965 Placentia Ave, Costa Mesa

WACO Mtg:
February 1 @ MWDOC
18700 Ward Street, Fountain Valley

MWDOC P&O Committee Mtg:
February 4 @ MWDOC
18700 Ward Street, Fountain Valley

MWD Committee Mtgs:
February 11-12 @ MWD
700 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles

MWDOC A&F Committee Mtg:
February 13 @ MWDOC
18700 Ward Street, Fountain Valley

The new GWR System produces 70

million gallons of water per day.

Reverse Osmosis is the heart of the purification process.

By Matt Stone, MWDOC Associate General Manager

Declaring that the Delta is in crisis and a solution can wait no longer, the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force released its Vision for the Future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region in December, 2007. The Delta Vision calls for both near-term and long-term actions, and makes recommendations about everything from balancing competing priorities of ecosystem and water supply, to land use planning and governance over Delta-related issues. The full text of the Delta Vision report, along with other supporting material, is available at the Delta Vision web site: http://deltavision.ca.gov/.

Key recommendations include the idea that the ecosystem and reliable water supply are primary co-equal goals; conservation, efficiency and sustainable use must drive water policy in California; a revitalized Delta will require reduced diversions or changes in timing of diversions; new conveyance and storage facilities are needed; a governance structure with broad authority over land use, ecosystem restoration and water supply is needed, as well as new sources of funding.  The Delta Vision report also notes a number of near-term actions that the State should take to reduce the potential for a collapse of the ecosystem or a Katrina-like catastrophe that could impact our imported water supply.

Reaction from water agencies has been mixed.  Some have welcomed the commitment to address the issues of conveyance (how to get water through or around the Delta with less ecosystem conflict) and take immediate steps to reduce the impact of a catastrophe, while others have expressed concern with the findings that water diversions must be reduced.

To read the entire text, including a list of the Delta Vision's 12 integrated and linked recommendations as well as a list of near-term actions recommended by the Blue Ribbon Panel, Click Here.

By Darcy Burke, MWDOC Director of Public Affairs

The Municipal Water District of Orange County’s (MWDOC) Board of Directors approved a voluntary water conservation resolution at its December 2007 Board of Directors meeting.  The resolution calls for a voluntary 10% reduction in water use by residents, businesses and municipalities throughout Orange County. 

Current water supply conditions require a concerted water conservation effort to meet demands over the next few years. Water supply conditions have been impacted by the driest season on record, an extended drought on the Colorado River and a recent federal court ruling that restricts pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta by an average of 30% a year.  There just is not enough water available to meet the demands of southern California with these cutbacks. 

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the region’s wholesale water provider, is doing a number of things in conjunction with the family of Southern California water agencies to meet the ongoing demands of the region.  A large part of Metropolitan’s overall water supply strategy is regional conservation.  This regional effort, in addition to a 30% agricultural cutback, interrupted replenishment water cutback, water transfers, water drawn from storage, updating the Regional Drought Management Plan and providing water use efficiency rebates for residential, commercial and municipal customers will help extend each drop until a long-term comprehensive solution is implemented.

To read the entire text, Click Here.

By Mike Markus, OCWD General Manager

The Orange County Water District (OCWD) and the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) recently announced the opening of their joint water purification project, the Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System. The new Groundwater Replenishment System is the largest water purification project of its kind in the world and will help increase Orange County’s water independence by providing a locally controlled, drought-proof supply of safe, high-quality water. OCWD started injecting purified sewer water into the seawater intrusion barrier in early January.

A project several years in the making, the new facility will produce 70 million gallons of pure water a day – enough water for 500,000 people. Water from the GWR System will exceed all state and federal drinking water standards.

To read the entire text, Click Here.

By Beth Fahl, MWDOC Water Use Efficiency Coordinator

The close of 2007 marked the closing of one of MWDOC’s most successful and longest-standing programs – the Ultra Low Flush Toilet (ULFT) Rebate Program. Since 1992, MWDOC has incentivized the replacement of more than 363,000 toilets in Orange County and has saved approximately 3.8 billion gallons of water annually (enough to provide 30,000 families with water for one year).  However, Orange County is reaching a point of saturation in the residential ULFT market and, in order to maximize water savings, has opted to discontinue the ULFT Rebate Program.

For additional information on the program, please call (800) 954-4344.  A rebate application and list of approved products can be downloaded from the MWDOC website at www.mwdoc.com/HET.htm. For information on HET rebates for multi-family residences and commercial sites, contact the Save Water – Save a Buck Program at (877) 728-2282, or visit the website at www.mwdsaveabuck.com/.

To read the entire text, Click Here.

By Kelly Hubbard, WEROC Programs Manager

Following a disaster, telephone communications are limited and your family may not be together when the disaster strikes. Often the phones still work, but the network is overwhelmed. There are simply too many calls coming into the area affected by the disaster. These phone calls are usually not emergency calls being made to 911, but rather family members calling each other to check if everyone is okay. In fact, people are encouraged to only use the phone lines for emergency 911 calls to prevent overwhelming of the network.

So, how do you check on your family and make sure everyone is safe? First, establish a “Point of Contact” for your family that is out of your immediate area. This can be a relative or family friend that lives in Northern California or Arizona, for example. Each person in your family can then call your Point of Contact to report his or her status and get everyone else’s status at the same time. This will limit the number of calls coming into the disaster-affected area.

To read the entire text Click Here.