ISSUE 6 VOLUME 13, DECEMBER  2016
MWDOC Directors Urge Support for Critical Water Project
Recognizing the importance of the California WaterFix to Southern California's water reliability, Directors of the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) on December 5 unanimously approved a resolution of support for the proposed project.
 
The California WaterFix would stabilize the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and ensure reliable water supplies from Northern California. About half of the water delivered to Orange County flows through the Delta into the State Water Project (SWP), which carries it south. Water through the SWP is also critical to filling Southern California's emergency storage.
 
"The California WaterFix is critical to ensuring we can continue to reliably serve our customers with water from north of the Delta," MWDOC President Wayne Osborne said. "It's not about getting more water, it's about reliability and protecting our investments. It is not a question of "if;" without decisive action, the Delta will fail."
 
Yoo Schneider Joins MWDOC Board as Incumbents Returned to Office
San Juan Capistrano engineer Megan Yoo Schneider was elected to the Board of Directors of the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), as voters also returned incumbents Joan Finnegan of Costa Mesa and Jeffery M. Thomas of Tustin to office.
  
MWDOC Directors are elected by division. Yoo Schneider will represent the southern-most area of Orange County, filling a seat vacated by Director Susan Hinman's retirement. Finnegan represents the Costa Mesa area, while Thomas' district stretches from Tustin to Talega in San Clemente. MWDOC President Wayne Osborne of Fountain Valley did not face a challenger and was reappointed to his seat for an additional four years.
  
MWDOC is a wholesale water supplier serving 2.2 million Orange County residents through 28 agencies. It is governed by seven directors, and appoints four directors to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MET). MET imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to serve more than 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties.
  
Yoo Schneider holds her Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Irvine, and a Master's Degree in Engineering with a Concentration in Environmental Engineering. She works for the Moulton Niguel Water District.

Retiring Director Susan Hinman Praised
Senator Pat Bates and representatives from water agencies throughout Orange County on Wednesday honored Susan Hinman, who is retiring from the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) after 16 years as a Director.
  
Hinman served 10 years on the board of the South Coast Water District before her election to the MWDOC board in 2000. MWDOC is Orange County's wholesale water agency, serving more than 2.2 million people.
  
Hinman, who represents South Orange County, announced earlier this year that she would not seek re-election when her term ended in November.

"Not only are you an excellent Director, you are a good person," MWDOC General Manager Rob Hunter told h er, echoing the sentiments of many in the audience.
 
Nearly 70 Scouts Earn Conservation Merit Badge at Water Agency Clinic
  
Nearly 70 Boy Scouts earned their "Soil & Water Conservation" merit badges on Saturday, during a clinic hosted by the El Toro Water District (ETWD) and Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC).
 
 ETWD General Manager Robert Hill welcomed the Scouts to the clinic and explained that water in South Orange County travels hundreds of miles to their homes - through the Colorado River Aqueduct or State Water Project - so it needed to be used efficiently and recycled for reuse. ETWD is a pioneer in OC water recycling, and the clinic was held at ETWD's water-recycling plant in Laguna Woods.

Calendar of Events
Upcoming Meetings/Events
 
December 14:
Administration & Finance Committee Meeting


December 19:
Public Affairs and Legislation Committee Meeting

December 20:
Executive Committee Meeting

December 21:
Regular Board Meeting

December 23, 26:
Holiday: Offices closed

All meetings are at MWDOC, 18700 Ward Ave., Fountain Valley.  For information on MWDOC meetings and events, please click on the calendar icon above.

Kudos
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OC Water District Honored for GWRS Video

The Orange County Water District (OCWD)  received a 2016 MarCom Gold Award in the Video/Audio category for its 40-minute animated PowerPoint presentation titled "Water Manufacturing Process." 

This award recognizes some of the top business and communication firms in the world.  OCWD's presentation was created to introduce the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS), the world's largest advanced water purification facility of its kind, which supplies 75 percent of the total water to 2.4-million people in north and central Orange County, California.

IRWD and AMS Partner on Energy Storage Project
 
The Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) and clean tech energy storage leader Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) this month announced a public-private partnership to install the largest network of energy storage systems at a public water agency in the United States.
  
The cutting-edge grid support project will enable IRWD to store energy, making it available to reduce demand from the grid when requested by the utility without interrupting water treatment operations and reducing the need for additional supply from fossil fuel generation in a region challenged by the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
  
This innovative partnership puts IRWD at the forefront of addressing one of California's great environmental challenges - the "water/energy nexus."  Public water agencies are aggressively exploring how best to smooth high energy demands, decrease costs and reduce their carbon footprints.
  
The system will provide IRWD cost savings of more than $500,000 per year, help stabilize and balance demand on the strapped Southern California electrical grid and ultimately advance IRWD's sustainability efforts.