September 12, 2011

Register Now for SCWC's 27th Annual Dinner Nov. 17

On Nov. 17, hundreds of stakeholders and opinion leaders from across the state will gather in the City of Industry for our flagship event of the year – the SCWC Annual Dinner.

Don’t miss out! For 27 years now, SCWC’s Annual Dinner has been the premier networking event in Southern California. Stay tuned for information on our special keynote speaker.

Make sure to buy a table and register today. Last year’s event sold out rapidly.

Call for Nominations -- Hon. Harriett Wieder Water Leadership Award

Each year during our Annual Dinner, SCWC honors an individual who has provided exceptional leadership with the Hon. Harriett Wieder Water Leadership Award.

We want your input. Who do you think deserves this prestigious award this year? Send us your nominations by Sept. 30. Our Nominations Committee will be meeting soon and making its selection.

Nominations should be submitted to Chloe Stearns at cstearns@fionahuttonassoc.com.

SCWC to Host Urban Water Planning Workshop on Sept. 23

On Friday, Sept. 23, SCWC will host the next in its successful ongoing series of Urban Water Planning Workshops. The event will take place at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) from 9am to 1:30pm.

This month’s workshop will feature state officials as well as some of the top industry professionals reflecting on the 2010 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) submittal process, and discussing lessons learned for the future.

Specific topics include regional perspectives on 2010 UWMP and IRWMP collaboration, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) review process and timeline, challenges to submitting UWMPs on time, MWD member agency UWMPs, case studies and potential issues with the 2015 UWMP submittal process.

Further details on the workshop are available here. To RSVP, contact Alex Comisar at acomisar@fionahuttonassoc.com.

For more information about SCWC’s involvement in urban water planning issues, visit our Urban Water Planning page online.

BDCP to Hold Next Public Meeting Sept. 27

On Tuesday, Sept. 27, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) will hold its next meeting to update the public on the state of the BDCP process.

The purpose of this month’s meeting will be to provide updates on the project schedule,  discuss alternatives for analysis, and to address any outstanding issues.

The meeting will be held at the West Sacramento Civic Center Galleria from 1-5pm. It will also be available by webcast. Just visit the BDCP website on the day of the meeting for instructions.

SB 250 (Rubio)

The SCWC Legislative Task Force has voted to support SB 250 (Rubio), which was significantly amended on Aug. 29 to require that the environmental review process for certain Delta conveyance facilities as part of the BDCP be completed by Feb. 15, 2013, and that the construction of those facilities be completed by Dec. 1, 2025.

AB 134 (Dickinson)

On Sept. 6, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 134 (Dickinson) into law, with the bill having passed both the Assembly and the Senate. The bill gives the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (SRCSD) the ability to apply for a water rights permit that would allow SRCSD to sell an amount of water equal to what  it discharges into the Sacramento River to offset the costs of upgrades to its facility mandated late last year by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

AB 275 (Solorio)

AB 275 (Solorio), the Rainwater Capture Act of 2011, has gone to Governor Brown’s desk for signature, having passed with overwhelming support in both houses. The bill allows homeowners and other landowners to install, maintain and operate rain barrel systems, and other kinds of rainwater capture systems. SCWC has given strong support to this bill over the last few months through both its Legislative and Stormwater Task Forces.

Last week, SCWC submitted a letter to the governor urging him to sign AB 275 into law.

For more information on SCWC legislative issues, visit our Legislative page online.

Watch for New Posts in the SCWC Water Blog!

Earlier this week, SCWC Executive Director Richard Atwater published a new post to the SCWC Water Blog. In this latest post, he addresses the importance of water storage to ensuring a reliable water supply in Southern California.

“Serious concerns about the Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Plan are mounting quickly these days. Over the last few weeks, water leaders and stakeholders across the state have been lodging criticism about the fifth staff draft of the Delta Plan on a number of critical fronts.  We’ll have some further thoughts on the latest plan draft in my next blog piece but I wanted to highlight today a recent letter submitted to the Delta Stewardship Council on State Water Project and Central Valley Project operations.

Just last week, the State Water Contractors and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority submitted a joint letter to the Delta Stewardship Council taking issue with several inaccurate statements in the draft plan that, according to the letter, ‘add up to a false portrayal of these two water systems.’”…Read more.