The May Monthly
Where Does Your Water Come From? Featuring EBMUD General Manager
Volume 103 | May 2023 | By Meghan Boyle
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SKYLINE GARDENS BIOBLITZ
LED BY GLEN SCHNEIDER
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EBMUD
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When: Sunday, May 14th, 2023
Time: 10:00AM-12:30PM
Where: Scotts Peak Trailhead, Orinda, CA, 94563
This event is brought to you by Wholly H2O and the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which is celebrating its 100-year anniversary! Check EBMUD's celebratory page about its history providing the Bay with water from the Mokelumne River for the last century.
Join Wholly H2O and EBMUD for an enthralling exploration of Skyline Gardens with Glen Schneider, the originator of the gardens! Get ready to document local flora and fauna and observe the organisms living in the area. Check out iNaturalist to see the species our community has already documented on the Skyline Trail. We also encourage you to check out Ken-ichi Ueda's article, featured in Bay Nature Magazine, describing the incredible features, ecology, and history of Skyline Gardens. Bring your smartphone, camera, sunblock, water, and snacks, and prepare for an exciting afternoon out in nature! This bioblitz is limited to 12 people so grab your spot right away.
To sign up for this event, use this link or the "Register" button above.
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NATIVE PLANT WALK WITH EXPERT ALAN SIEGEL
WILDCAT CREEK WATERSHED
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When: Sunday, May 20th, 2023
Time: 11:00AM-1:00PM
Where: Jewel Lake/Wildcat Peak, CA 94602 (Meet in front of pool house)
Join us on a super exciting walk where we will be learning all about the Sausal Creek Watershed! Along for the ride will be botanical expert Alan Siegel, member of the California Native Plant Society and docent at Tilden Botanical Garden. We'll explore the Wildcat Creek watershed, look for native flora, and discover the ecology of the watershed as we go.
If you are in need of free tickets contact: info@whollyh2o.org
To sign up for this event, use this link or the "Register" button above. (This event is free.)
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EBMUD 100th YEAR ANNIVERSARY |
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When: Sunday, May 21st, 2023
Time: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Where: Lake Temescal Regional Recreation Area
Celebrate the EBMUD centennial at Lake Temescal! This free community event will feature local performers, food trucks, games, informational booths, and more! This event is free to the public, so no sign ups are required. Just bring yourself, family, friends, and a refillable water bottle! To learn more about this event and reserve a spot, check out this link.
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"Without Water, We Don't Have a Community.": A Conversation with EBMUD General Manager, Clifford Chan |
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EBMUD General Manager, Clifford Chan / East Bay Municipal Utility District |
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In celebration of the EBMUD centennial, who better to learn from about water in the East Bay than EBMUD General Manager, Clifford Chan? We had the opportunity to speak with him about his role in the company, EBMUD's history, and future plans as the utility moves into its next century of service.
As General Manager of EBMUD, Clifford oversees the operations of all the utility's water and wastewater systems that help provide safe and reliable water to nearly 1.4 million consumers across the East Bay.
“A lot of that work, you know, is a balance between making sure that we can really do the work while also making sure that what we do is affordable," Clifford says when discussing the importance of his role as General Manager. One of EBMUD’s biggest goals has always been to provide customers with clean water while ensuring fair, economical pricing. It is a goal to which Clifford has dedicated over two decades of his life.
“This is my 26th year here at East Bay MUD,” he explains after being asked about his motivations for working with the utility for so long. “The work is really interesting. The people are fantastic; we have a lot of smart, dedicated people, and I think most importantly: the work that we do supports the community. We’re here to protect public health and protect the environment, and that’s a really compelling reason to come to work every day.”
Clifford isn’t the only one that feels this way about the incredible work that EBMUD does. For a century, the utility has been working to guarantee safe water for East Bay citizens. So how did it get its start?
“For people to really understand how we got to where we are and why we do what we do, and to understand the challenges that we face today…you actually have to go back a little over 150 years,” Clifford says. “People used to get their water in the East Bay from creeks, springs, and wells. You went to where your water was.” However, this all began to change in the mid-1800s. During the Gold Rush, cities began forming across the Golden State, especially in Northern California. And more people meant higher demand for accessible water.
One of the key figures in the East Bay water scene was Anthony Chabot, who founded the Contra Costa Water Company in the 1860s and began construction on Lake Temescal and the Chabot Dam Reservoir. Chabot, alongside real estate developers, (many of which ran their own small water companies), helped to provide the San Francisco area with water for the next several decades.
However, as East Bay cities continued to grow, the Contra Costa Water Company had difficulties keeping up with increasing water demand. This led to the eventual takeover by the People’s Water Company, started by Frank C. Havens and Francis Marion Smith, who also were involved in many real estate developments around the East Bay. But, just like the Contra Costa Water Company, the People’s Water Company’s financial struggles mounted. It was ultimately replaced by the East Bay Water Company (which was a different entity from EBMUD).
Eventually, in the early 1900s, California Governor George Pardee, became fed up with the various failures of private water companies to provide high-quality, reliable, and affordable water to the Bay Area. He formed a commission through the State of California which helped pass the Municipal Utility District (MUD) Act, from which EBMUD gets the latter half of its name. Then, in 1923, nine East Bay cities voted to form the EBMUD we know today. But the work was just getting started.
“The first task that East Bay MUD had was ‘find a reliable water supply’,” Clifford explains. “So, we looked to the Sierras, found the Mokelumne River, and that’s where we built our main water supply.” Once securing the Mokelumne River as the East Bay's water source, EBMUD began taking steps to get that water to the Bay Area. For a more in-depth peek into this process, check out last month’s newsletter: “What’s on Tap? Bay Area Water Sources — Past and Present.”
“We, as East Bay MUD today, can’t forget why we were formed,” the General Manager proclaims, a nod to the age-old lesson he says his father always told him: those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. “Now there are two other aspects we have to also remember: we have to invest in our infrastructure, and we have to protect the environment. Those are the things that guide us forward.”
Speaking of moving forward, Clifford explains that some of the utility's greatest challenges as it heads for the future are aging infrastructure and climate change.
“We’ve inherited infrastructure that is over 150 years old, and we have to maintain that. The other thing that we are all facing is climate change,” Clifford states. “The climate is changing. The climate is getting warmer… our systems weren’t designed for that.”
On top of that, the emergence of things like “forever chemicals”, or chemicals found in everything from clothing, cosmetics, and even carpets that do not break down in the environment, are getting into water supplies and contaminating them, rendering the water unsafe to consume.
“Water is essential for life. People cannot live without water. And there’s an expectation that when you turn on the tap…that water is going to be there all the time,” Clifford notes, explaining the challenges faced by EBMUD to combat these various issues. “We have to do all this infrastructure work, we have to make sure it's reliable, but we also have to keep it affordable. And that almost seems impossible.”
So how is EBMUD handling it?
“We are making the largest investments in our water system to make it more reliable and more resilient. We are embarking on the biggest capital investment we’ve ever done in our history,” Clifford declares. “In the next 5 years, we are investing a little over 3 billion dollars in our infrastructure…. The other thing that we’re doing too is… we have developed programs to help those who can’t afford [the water].” Clifford takes a moment to boast about EBMUD’s customer assistance programs, which he says are the most generous in the state. He highlights the importance of making sure everyone, regardless of economic status, has access to clean water.
In addition, two years ago, EBMUD embarked on an impressive journey to become carbon neutral (meaning that their carbon output is equal to their carbon intake) by 2030. Clifford affirms that the utility is well on its way toward meeting that goal.
"It’s both achievable and aspirational. We know that if we don’t do our part to stop climate change, it’s only going to make our jobs to deliver reliable water supplies more difficult.” While EBMUD must do its part to help combat climate change, Clifford emphasizes that consumers also play a vital role in water conservation.
“The thing that I like to tell people is: know where your water comes from. Appreciate how precious it is. Also, have an understanding of how much water you actually use in a day,” he advises. “When you have an appreciation of that very tight linkage between the environment and your water, and you understand how much of it you consume, then the idea of conserving it and protecting it actually affects you.” In addition, Clifford recommends avoiding bottled water as much as possible.
“It costs you one penny a gallon [for water]. You could go buy a bottle of say, SmartWater for 3 dollars. It’s not very smart, is it?” Clifford says pointedly. “That 3 dollars that you spent could’ve gotten you 300 gallons of water.”
After securing a reusable water bottle, a great step in your water conservation journey is simply checking your EBMUD bill (which you can learn how to do using this link) to see how much water you use in a day. From there, you can work to reduce your water use where possible and ultimately build a strong connection between you and your water.
By starting to think about water as a truly invaluable resource, and understanding how much of it you use, you form a deeper connection to the life-sustaining source that we so often take for granted, and conserving it feels more like a necessity rather than an option. As Clifford puts it:
“If people understood the value that they’re getting…and they do their part to conserve and they do their part to protect the environment and they do their part not to contaminate, it helps everyone. Because without water, we don’t have a community.”
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Where Does Your Water Come From? |
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So, what's actually on tap? |
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Last month we dipped our toes into the world of Bay Area water sources, but in celebration of EBMUD's 100th year anniversary, we're exploring the history of Mokelumne River and Watershed in depth! |
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Mokelumne River / Michael Wier, California Trout |
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The Mokelumne River, or ''The Moke'' as it is colloquially called, and its surrounding watershed make a beautifully fascinating ecosystem. Although most Bay Area citizens probably know it for the water it provides through EBMUD, the Mokelumne River is so much more. The Mokelumne Watershed is a riparian ecosystem, lush with verdant vegetation and trees, sparkling water, and thriving wildlife while the 95-mile-long river is home to a huge range of biodiversity, including hundreds of native birds, plants, reptiles, and mammals. It also houses over 30 species of fish and is famous for its large salmon and trout runs, which are historically the biggest in the area. Many avid fishers enjoy the river for its abundance of chinook salmon, rainbow trout, and steelhead.
Starting in the 1800s with the emergence of the California Gold Rush, the Mokelumne River became a hotbed of gold-related activity. In fact, it was in the Mokelumne River watershed that gold was first discovered in Sutter Creek. The Moke itself was a major gold-producing river and the surrounding hills were rich in the precious metal, so settlers flooded the area hoping to strike it rich. However, the sudden influx of human activity including hillside stripping, hydraulic mining, and river irrigation damaged the land and altered the river’s natural flow.
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Although various human activities have caused permanent alterations to the area’s ecological systems, nonprofits like Foothill Conservancy, are helping protect and heal the Mokelumne River and Watershed. Foothill Conservancy started in 1990 and has been serving as the Mokelumne River steward for many years, working to protect and maintain the health of the watershed’s ecology and community. One of their most recent endeavors was a fundraising adventure headed by John Silva, the Mokelumne River “Source-to-Sea” expedition. To raise money for Foothill Conservancy, Silva, an avid adventurer and lifelong kayaker, embarked on a 600-mile-long journey from the Mokelumne headwaters to the Golden Gate Bridge and back. Traveling only by foot, kayak, bike, and raft, Silva traversed through rarely-seen Mokelumne wilderness, exploring its ecosystems and spending time appreciating the powerful beauty of Mother Nature.
-- backpacking 240 miles from her Bay Area home to the Mokelumne headwaters. After making her way around the Bay through the Central Valley and into the Mokelumne Watershed, Gordon-Kirsch arrived at the water’s origination point, Highland Lakes. Her inspiration behind the walk was to raise awareness about where East Bay water comes from to encourage people to conserve it by showing how many steps it takes for the water to get from the headwaters to a Bay Area faucet.
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While not everyone can go adventuring across California, you can still show your water a little love by purchasing a sticker from our What's on Tap? sticker collection! You can also check out Wholly H2O's various Walking Waterhoods tours to get connected with and learn more about your local creeks and watersheds using this link or by scanning the QR codes below.
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What else are we up to? Wholly H2O regularly plans exciting environmental events throughout the year, including beach cleanups, walking tours, art projects, and nature observations (aka BioBlitzes). To view our future events, click the link here, or use the button below. If you'd like to stay tuned and get notifications about our events, feel free to use that same link to follow us on EventBrite!
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Our lives depend on healthy watersheds, and Wholly H2O depends on YOU!
Support Wholly H2O as we plan many more exciting events over the next year!
We create educational content that connects YOU to the watersheds you live in, and we love doing what we do! No matter how much you decide to donate, you will make an impact on what we can accomplish. Click the button above to contribute a tax-deductible donation or check out our fundraiser on our Facebook page!
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Want to Give Back to Your Watershed? Join our Board of Advisors! |
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During the last 100 years, California has been in on-and off drought conditions. We also have one of the five most important delta systems in the world, yet, most Californians do not know where their water comes from, how much they use a day, or what watershed they live in. At Wholly H2O, we are creating deep connections with watershed ecosystems in order to inspire people to take long-range personal and political action, while still having fun. And our Board of Advisors is a crucial part of how Wholly H2O functions. We ask for a solid commitment to:
- Join a 1.5 hour board meeting every four months.
- Put the word out about at least 3 Wholly H2O events a year
- Attend at least 3 Wholly H2O events per year
- Assist us in making connections for program content, partners, funding, and growth.
We're looking for experts in Bay Area creek and marine ecosystems, East Bay BIPOC history, citizen science, curriculum development, East Bay K-12 schools, art, marketing, or outreach. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, apply using this link. Also, be sure to check out our current Board of Advisors to learn more about our current members!
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Wholly H2O couldn't run without the work of our talented volunteers. We have a bunch of unique opportunities throughout the year, such as podcast producing, accounting, and content editing! Take a look at our Volunteer Match to learn more!
We are especially interested in two roles:
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Our Interns Do Really Cool Stuff. |
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We always have a pod of 10-15 interns researching creek histories, creating wildlife guides, editing livestreams, writing copies for our watershed tours, and more. We promise you will never be bored - lend your skills or add your curiosity to our work!
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Wholly H2O catalyzes dynamic, informed connections between people and their watersheds that yield proactive and appropriate water management through conservation and reuse. Our watershed-positive educational programs engage Californians in community , citizen science, art, and green infrastructure education.
Our activities: waterhood tours, BioBlitzes, Moth nights, and art events are bringing waterhoods to life for hundreds of water-users around the San Francisco Bay area! Join us for an event, follow us on social media, volunteer or intern, or donate to support our fun and innovative work. (We also love matched donations from your workplace!)
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