I’m asking everyone to join hands with us in moving us forward. I use this term, We Are One – we are one region working together to create a reliable water supply. SCB: As we enter a second year of severe drought and climatologists warn of more frequent, more severe droughts ahead, Metropolitan is calling for voluntary, not mandatory, conservation. Why is that? AH: Every region of our state is different in terms of their situation during this drought, and every region of Southern California is different, so I support an approach that is adaptable to each area according to their needs. Here in Southern California, ratepayers in many agencies have invested in local supplies to strengthen their resilience to droughts like the one we’re facing today. For example, Orange County has led the way in recycling water to recharge its groundwater basins, so that is an additional drought-proof supply for their service area. So, if you mandate the reduction of water use in homes in that area, what’s going to happen is that the amount of water that’s available for recycling there is actually going to diminish. Southern California is well positioned to get through this drought because its residents have done an exceptional job conserving. Water use has remained low, which has helped Metropolitan store a record amount of water for use during times like these. However, I know we can’t sustain these conditions forever, and I believe the solution requires us all to come together for a unified strategy. That’s why Metropolitan declared a Water Supply Alert in August to ask the region to conserve. We’re asking every one of our member agencies to take a look at their drought contingency plans and evaluate the actions they have to take to reduce their water use. We are also asking Southern Californians to conserve, consistent with Governor Newsom’s voluntary cut of 15%. If these drought conditions continue, we will look at additional measures and potential restrictions for our residents and
Southern California
BUILDER |
October 2021
businesses to use less water to ensure we maintain a reliable supply. My team also is working hard on finding ways to increase conservation in all our communities, particularly our underserved communities. Leaky pipes are a good example. There are a lot of communities that have leaky pipes from the mainlines to the homes. If we can help to replace those pipes, it will create jobs, reduce water consumption, and reduce water bills. We believe there are things like this we can do together to help us prepare for drought. People are responsible enough to know that this is a serious condition. They know water is life and they see that this is a wake-up call for the future. SCB: BIA stands by Southern California’s water providers in supporting new water infrastructure. We actively support the Delta Conveyance tunnel, water recycling and banking, private sector efforts like Poseidon and the Cadiz Water Project, and we hope to support the Carson recycling project if that moves forward. Why are projects like these important? AH: Metropolitan’s board will look at all potential solutions and supplies and will consider future investments based on the projects’ ability to meet our needs for resilience, sustainability and affordability. That’s part of our One Water approach, which looks at the gap between supply and demand over time and considers how we are going to balance our needs with the available supplies. That includes creating new local water supplies. But the solution is not singular – we need everything in our toolbox. Storage, recycled water, stormwater, connectivity between all these sources will be important.
Inside Edition: THE INDUSTRY GAME CHANGERS
Really, I see this as a Mulholland Moment, and by that I mean the opportunity for us to be creative and take action to ensure Southern California has the water it needs for the next century. We’re doing some good work on increasing storage in our system, but it’s not enough. It’s time for us now to plan for the next 100 years, to be adaptive to climate change, to create and store more water supplies, to recycle every drop of water, to connect our systems so we can move water to where it’s needed. Conservation is what has helped us get through the dry years, and we need to continue to grow that conservation ethic.
I’m excited about our Regional Recycled Water Program in Carson, which is in the environmental planning phase. This is a partnership with the Los Angeles Sanitation Districts is looking to create a new, drought-proof water supply for hundreds of thousands of homes and reuse water that is currently sent to the ocean. I support our work on the Delta Conveyance project because we have to consider the impacts of climate change and other challenges in the Delta, which is the start of the State Water Project, the conveyance system that brings vitally important Northern California water supplies to our region. In addition to balancing the needs of the environment, we also need to ensure that the system is resilient to earthquakes. However, with climate change, my concern is that you can build the biggest pipe in the world, but if you don’t have the water to go into it, what’s going to happen? We all have seen the shrinking
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