Dealing with Unparalleled Supply Issues, Metropolitan to Launch Series of Public Forums on Southland’s Water Future

District Update of Long-Term Water Resources Plan Focuses on Efficient Water Use Through Conservation and New Local Supplies to Meet Needs Through 2035

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the face of unprecedented water challenges, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California next week will take the next step in overhauling the region’s long-term resources plan that will provide a roadmap for maintaining water supply reliability over the next 25 years.

“We must adapt in order to remain reliable, and that means having realistic expectations on our imported supplies and looking within our service area for increasing supplies and lowering demands.”

Beginning next Tuesday (Aug. 3) in Orange, Metropolitan will host the first of four public stakeholder forums as the district conducts outreach efforts to update the district’s Integrated Resources Plan. Through the forums, Metropolitan and its 26 member public agencies are looking to engage and seek input on the draft 2010 IRP from the public, local water agencies, government, business and environmental communities as well as other stakeholders. The district made available the draft plan earlier this month (http://www.mwdh2o.com/irp).

“This input will be essential in determining the right combination of imported deliveries and continued regional and local investments in water conservation, recycling, groundwater cleanup and ocean water desalination to meet future demands. This will lead to fundamental changes in the way our water supply needs and reliability goals are met,” said Debra C. Man, Metropolitan assistant general manager and chief operating officer.

The first forum in Orange will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, 100 The City Drive, followed by a second Thursday, Aug. 5 at the Ontario Airport Marriott, 2200 East Holt Blvd.

Additional forums are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10 at the Ramada Conference Center, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road in San Diego, and Thursday, Aug. 12 at Metropolitan’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters building, at 700 North Alameda St.

Since Metropolitan’s Board of Directors approved the district’s original plan in 1996, the IRP has served as a national blueprint for regional supply diversification. Metropolitan and its member agencies have since periodically updated the plan’s long-term water strategies.

“Metropolitan and its member agencies have relied on IRP strategies to help diversify the region’s resource mix, which has served us well for the past two decades,” Man said. “However, the long-term reliability of our imported supplies continues to be weighed down by uncertainties.”

Pumping restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and a series of dry years continues to limit the region’s supplies from Northern California. In the meantime, Metropolitan’s other imported water source—the Colorado River—remains in a 10-year drought, with Lake Mead at its lowest level in more than 40 years.

Man said the draft 2010 IRP proposes to maintain the district’s traditional baseline imported supplies from Northern California and the Colorado River while expanding local programs to meet future demands. Water saved through conservation, for example, is expected to be greater than any single source of supply in the years ahead.

“The increasing focus on local efforts will reestablish our goal of meeting full-service demands at the retail level under all foreseeable hydrologic conditions through 2035,” Man said. “We must adapt in order to remain reliable, and that means having realistic expectations on our imported supplies and looking within our service area for increasing supplies and lowering demands.”

Feedback from similar public IRP stakeholder forums in 2008 served as a starting point for an in-depth series of technical workgroups. Comprised of representatives from Metropolitan, its member agencies and other resource area experts, the workgroups analyzed and evaluated the development potential and major issues surrounding recycled water, groundwater, seawater desalination, stormwater, graywater and conservation.

Following the workgroups, Metropolitan’s board examined various district roles in future resource development and evaluated potential resource alternatives from a technical standpoint, including conducting a cost/rate differential review among the alternatives.

More information on the draft 2010 IRP, including the updated documents, is available on the district’s Web site, www.mwdh2o.com.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.