For Immediate Release

Los Angeles, CA

September 28, 2006

Press Contact:

David Sommers

Phone: (213) 974-1095

Fax: (213) 626-6941

DSommers@lacbos.org

Central Basin Water District

I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you tonight about water, a topic that I feel is critical to the future of California and to the economic health and the quality of life that we enjoy in Los Angeles County.
 

The Los Angeles area is the economic and financial hub of the Western United States.
We are recognized as a global center for tourism, entertainment, international trade, technology, and manufacturing.
 

With annual gross product of nearly $400 billion, we rank as the 11th largest economy in the world. We could not have achieved all this success without a reliable and safe water supply.

As you know, securing water is much more complicated than simply turning on a tap.

Mother Nature alone cannot provide the water needs for our 10 million people.
 

In Los Angeles, the scarcity of water requires that nearly two-thirds of our supply must be imported from distant sources.
 

Therefore we must use our local supplies wisely.
 

Our region faces growing challenges to our water supplies as economic and environmental conditions change here and across the southwestern parts of our Country.
 

These issues are placing an increased demand on what supplies we do rely upon. Substantial amounts of water from Northern California’s Bay-Delta area and Mono Lake have recently been shifted from urban to environmental needs.
 

Last year's devastation in New Orleans and the most recent levee failures within the Bay-Delta remind us of the vulnerabilities of relying on imported water to meet our local needs.
 

The Colorado River watershed is in the midst of the worst drought in its history and even as Arizona and Nevada continues to use more of their allocation. Climate changes, population increases, shifting demand patterns, and environmental needs provide the challenges facing our water managers as they look to provide us with a secure and safe drinking water supply.
 

The latest California Water Plan forecasts that southern California will likely face water shortages in the future without developing additional water supplies.

How will our water managers face these challenges?
 

We are seeing a fundamental transition in the way we manage California’s water resources.
In the future we will be getting much of the water we need from local resources.
 

Our water managers are looking to a broad array of water management programs.
 

Conservation has led the way.
 

Today our region is using about the same amount of water as we used in the 1970s – even though our population has risen by over a million people.
 

New approaches to water supply reliability will also include building new storage and conveyance facilities to capture water when it is plentiful for use during drought periods.
 

Conjunctive management utilizes our surface supplies and groundwater storage more effectively by taking surface flows and storing the water in our local groundwater basins.
 

Desalination and water recycling will also play a major role in increasing our local resources.
 

I would like to take a moment and focus on water recycling.
 

Developing this valuable local resource, for non potable purposes, is something I feel is critical to insuring our water supplies remain sustainable an reliable.
 

Highly treated water from our local reclamation plants is readily available for such uses.
Recycled water is strictly regulated by State and local agencies, and must comply with a set of laws and regulations requiring a high level of quality and treatment to fully protect human health.
 

We have been using recycled water in Los Angeles County for over 40 years for groundwater recharge.
More recently, recycled water has been used for landscape irrigation at some of our parks and golf courses.
However, we could be doing more.
 

Just recently I introduced a Board motion directing our Public Works Department to convene and chair a Task Force

to look at the issues of recycled water and report back to the Board with policy recommendations on how the County can advance the use of recycled water for non potable purposes.

I eagerly look forward to receiving their recommendations.
 

Another area of extreme importance is the development of our region's Integrated Regional Water Management Plan.
 

This endeavor is a new way to address a wide range of water resource issues.
 

It encompasses an integrated watershed approach to optimize the way we look at issues such as flood protection, urban runoff, water use efficiency, supply reliability, and environmental stewardship.
 

Today, hundreds of local agencies, organizations, environmental groups, and cities, under the leadership of our County Public Works Department, are working together to develop this Plan.
 

I am pleased to note that the Central Basin Municipal Water District is an active partner in this endeavor.
Through this collaborative and cooperative stakeholder-driven process we can develop cost-effective solutions to address the water resource needs of our region.
 

This Plan will serve to position the region for obtaining funding from local, state, and federal sources to implement a wide variety of local projects.

I wish to again thank the Central Basin Municipal Water District for inviting me here tonight.
 

You have been a partner and friend of the County for many years.
 

Your District has provided the water that our Public Works Department spreads at our groundwater recharge facilities.
 

Over the last ten years, that has amounted to over 250,000 acre-feet.
 

That water plays a critical role in replenishing the groundwater supplies that many of us here tonight rely upon.
 

As leaders of our communities, we are expected to work for the common good of our citizenry.
 

Our region's diverse economy and economic well-being require that we do so; and water is the most basic of all the resources that allows us to continue our growth and prosperity.
 

Civilizations grew or withered depending on its availability. Today we are the stewards of this precious resource, and we must use it wisely as our legacy to future generations.
 

Thanks. God Bless America. Questions?

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