Drought conditions have dramatically improved this winter in the West and this trend is expected to persist into the spring. A dominate weather pattern featuring a southward dip in the jet stream, or upper-level trough over the western U.S., has allowed a series of precipitation-rich storm systems to track through the region, especially over the last month.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s General Manager notified the region’s water board on Wednesday that she is retiring. Maureen Stapleton has held the top job at the agency for more than two decades. She led the Water Authority through the complicated settlement negotiations surrounding the Colorado River. That deal cleared the way for a huge water transfer with the Imperial Valley that provides a significant chunk of local drinking water. Stapleton also encouraged projects like the Carlsbad Desalination plant as a way to diversify the region’s water supply.
The odds are looking increasingly poor that Arizona and other Western states will meet a March 4 federal deadline for wrapping up Colorado River drought plans. That’s not just because of the ongoing conflict over a now-shelved water rights bill for Eastern Arizona that prompted a threat from the Gila River Indian Community to bolt this state’s drought plan. It’s also not just because of a Southern California irrigation district’s efforts to secure $200 million in U.S. funds to shore up the dying Salton Sea. Without that money, the Imperial Irrigation District — which holds more Colorado River rights than anyone else — says it won’t sign onto the drought plan that is supposed to cover all seven river basin states.
As a result of improved water supply conditions, the California Department of Water Resources on Wednesday announced an increase in 2019 State Water Project allocations. State Water Project contractors south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are set to receive 35 percent of their requests for the 2019 calendar year, up from 15 percent allocation announced last month. Allocations are reviewed monthly based on snowpack and runoff information and are typically finalized by May.
In stormy winters like this, residents of drought-prone Southern California fret about how much rainfall flows into the ocean, a reminder of the amounts of water the region is wasting instead of saving for good use. A new bill by a San Fernando Valley state senator aims to fix that. The bill introduced Monday by Sens. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, and Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would require huge reductions in the volume of treated wastewater discharged into the Pacific Ocean and California estuaries.
The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is a major source of water for cities and farms across the state, and a major source of water conflict. In a Sacramento Bee commentary two years ago, we and our colleague Brian Gray promoted a grand compromise for the Delta. We suggested that the three broad interests fighting about its future—water users, environmental groups, and Delta residents—give up something in order to reduce conflict and make progress. During his first state of the state address, Gov. Gavin Newsom opened the door to just such a compromise.
The longtime head of the San Diego County Water Authority announced Wednesday she is retiring after 23 years. We profiled Maureen Stapleton, the agency’s general manager, last year. She helped the region secure its own supplies of water, making her a respected civic leader. But amid a water war she helped launch and the bitter, personal disputes it’s set off, it became an open question whether Stapleton would be able to end her career on a good note. Last year, one of the Water Authority’s board members said an intoxicated Stapleton came up to him at an industry event and accused him of sleeping with an employee at a rival water agency. There’s no evidence such an affair happened.
After 23 years at the helm of the San Diego region’s wholesale water agency, General Manager Maureen Stapleton is stepping down – and leaving an enormous legacy.
“The positive impact of Maureen’s leadership of the Water Authority and management of this region’s water supply cannot be overstated,” said Jim Madaffer, chair of the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors. “She has also been an important leader in our civic affairs for three decades and has dedicated countless hours to the betterment of our entire region. She will be greatly missed.
“Her name is synonymous with water in San Diego – for good reason,” Madaffer said. “Since 1996, Maureen has guided a dynamic agency that continues aggressively developing a comprehensive array of water supply and infrastructure projects designed to diversify the region’s water resources and improve the region’s water supply reliability.”
Stapleton announced her plans today to the Board of Directors and staff. Upon Stapleton’s departure, Deputy General Manager Sandy Kerl, who has more than 25 years of experience in public administration including a decade at the Water Authority, will be the acting general manager while a search for the Water Authority’s next general manager is under way.
“The success of the Water Authority over the past two decades is testament to the vision of the Board of Directors, the passionate commitment and dedication of the Water Authority’s staff and management team, the partnership we forged with our 24 member agencies, and the unwavering support of the San Diego region’s civic leaders,” Stapleton said. “I am immensely proud of our shared accomplishments, and I will greatly miss my Water Authority colleagues and esprit de corps we shared carrying out the Water Authority’s mission to provide our region with a safe and reliable water supply.”
‘Instrumental in the growth and development of our region’
Former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, now President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, called Stapleton “instrumental in the growth and development of our region. Under Maureen’s leadership, the Water Authority has helped propel San Diego’s economy by ensuring our region has a diversified, highly reliable water supply – and the infrastructure system needed to produce and treat water, store it, and deliver it to millions of San Diegans.”
Stapleton’s career includes many milestones, including successfully negotiation the landmark 2003 Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement, the nation’s largest farm-to-urban water conservation-and-transfer agreement that remains a cornerstone of water management in the Southwest.
Under her guidance, the Water Authority implemented cutting-edge urban water conservation programs that have helped to reduce per capita water use in the San Diego region by more than 40 percent since 1990.
In 2013, the Water Authority won the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies’ Platinum Award for Utility Excellence, the organization’s highest honor for outstanding achievement in implementing nationally recognized best practices for effective utility management. Three years later, AMWA bestowed its Sustainable Water Utility Management Award on the Water Authority, saying the agency’s “sustainability mindset saves ratepayers money, reduces the environmental impacts of projects and operations, conserves energy and water, and helps the agency thrive in a changing climate.”
Agency mission and projects continue to move ahead
In 2017, the Association of California Water Agencies presented the Water Authority with the Clair A. Hill Water Agency Award for Excellence for innovation and excellence in water resources management with its addition of supplies from the Carlsbad Desalination Project – the largest seawater desalination plant in the Americas.
The same year, the Water Authority won the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award – the top international engineering award – for having the foresight and dedication to build the Emergency & Carryover Storage Project. That $1.5 billion system of dams, reservoirs, pump stations, pipelines and tunnels, to protect the region’s 3.3 million people and $220 billion economy from extended dry periods or emergencies that could disrupt imported water deliveries.
Said Madaffer: “While Maureen’s departure will leave a significant hole, I’m confident in the leadership team that we have assembled both on the Board of Directors at the senior staff level so that the important work of the Water Authority will continue with the same diligence as it has for decades.”
A rolling conveyor belt of storms this winter has left the Sierra Nevada blanketed in a thick layer of snow. The year started modestly, with the snowpack measuring around 70 percent of average on the first of the year. A robust January and February has brought the snowpack up to around 145 percent of normal for this time of year. April 1 typically marks the peak of Sierra snowpack accumulation and the start of the spring runoff. Move the sliders below to view the terrain before and after snowstorms.
Maureen A. Stapleton, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority since 1995, is planning to retire, the agency said Wednesday. “The positive impact of Maureen’s leadership of the Water Authority and management of this region’s water supply cannot be overstated,” said Jim Madaffer, chair of the Water Authority’s Board of Directors. “She has also been an important leader in our civic affairs for three decades and has dedicated countless hours to the betterment of our entire region. She will be greatly missed.”
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
