October 2, 2018
Jim Madaffer Elected as Board Chair of Water Authority

New officers for the Water Authority’s Board of Directors were unanimously elected on September 27, with Jim Madaffer starting his two-year term as Board chair on Oct. 1.

Madaffer, vice chair of the Board for the past two years as a representative from the City of San Diego, will serve with incoming Vice Chair Gary Croucher, a Board representative from the Otay Water District, and incoming Secretary Christy Guerin from the Olivenhain Municipal Water District.

“Looking ahead, our core issues include ensuring long-term water reliability by supporting local supply development; advocating for balanced state water-use regulations; promoting water-use efficiency at homes and businesses; and adopting cost-effective innovations to operate and maintain the region’s water infrastructure,” Madaffer said.

Water Authority Presents Kyocera with 2018 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award

On September 28, the Water Authority presented its 2018 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award to Kyocera for reducing its annual water use by more than 6 million gallons at its San Diego facility, a decrease of nearly 20 percent since 2014.

The award marks the Water Authority’s inaugural effort to recognize water-efficiency investments among the region’s top manufacturing companies in conjunction with the Industrial Environmental Association. The 2018 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award was announced at the IEA’s 34th Annual Environmental Conference at the San Diego Convention Center.

"It takes a lot of water to manufacture the technology that surrounds us, and we must act in good conscience to recycle as much of that water as possible," aid Meridith Marquis, Kyocera’s divisional vice president for general affairs. " The fact that we can save money while doing this makes it a win-win all around.”

Extraordinary State Demands Thwart Research on Seawater Desalination Technologies

The Water Authority is closing down work on a potential seawater desalination plant at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton due to extraordinary permitting hurdles and related costs created by the State Lands Commission staff, along with the decreased potential that the plant will be needed in coming decades.

For the past three years, the Water Authority has been developing a small-scale pilot facility to assess seawater intake and treatment technologies at Camp Pendleton, with grant funding from state and federal agencies. The resulting study would have been the first in California to investigate an innovative subsurface intake technology for ocean water.

However, staff at the State Lands Commission insisted that the Water Authority go above and beyond statutory and regulatory permitting requirements, adding a projected $626,000 to the pilot project cost and making it financially infeasible. The proposed pilot project would have treated up to 20 gallons of seawater per minute, providing valuable data statewide. 

Brought to You by Water: Manufacturing

October is celebrated as Manufacturing Month. From world-famous guitars to Navy ships, San Diego County’s robust manufacturing sector supports more than 100,000 of the best jobs in the region across hundreds of industries.

Did You See?

On September 21, Times of San Diego published a column by the San Diego Tourism Authority President and CEO Joe Terzi and Chief Operating Officer Kerri Kapich about this summer's successful tourism season - Brought to You by Water.

"While it may not seem obvious, record-breaking tourist activity is only possible with access to a safe and reliable water supply," they wrote.

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