Encinitas, CA—Olivenhain Municipal Water District invites local residents to attend a workshop that will cover the fundamentals of landscaping for fire protection. This free event will be held on Thursday, October 18, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve’s Interpretive Center Honoring Susan J. Varty.
San Diego, Calif. – The San Diego County Water Authority is closing down work on a potential seawater desalination plant at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton due to extraordinary permitting hurdles and related costs created by the State Lands Commission staff, along with the decreased potential that the plant will be needed in coming decades.
San Diego, Calif. – The San Diego County Water Authority this morning presented its 2018 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award to Kyocera for reducing its annual water use by more than 6 million gallons at its San Diego facility, a decrease of nearly 20 percent since 2014.
The award marks the Water Authority’s inaugural effort to recognize water-efficiency investments among the region’s top manufacturing companies in conjunction with the Industrial Environmental Association. The 2018 Water Innovation & Efficiency Award was announced at the IEA’s 34th Annual Environmental Conference at the San Diego Convention Center.
San Diego, Calif. – New officers for the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors were unanimously elected today, with Jim Madaffer starting his two-year term as Board chair on Oct. 1.
Madaffer, vice chair of the Board for the past two years as a representative from the City of San Diego, will serve with incoming Vice Chair Gary Croucher, a Board representative from the Otay Water District, and incoming Secretary Christy Guerin from the Olivenhain Municipal Water District.
Representatives from the Helix Water District, San Diego Gas & Electric, and the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa and Lemon Grove on September 12 celebrated Helix’s new electric vehicle charging stations in conjunction with National Drive Electric Week and Electric Vehicle Day on September 15.
Helix installed 10 electric vehicle charging stations at the district’s operations center in El Cajon and 10 more at its administration office in La Mesa through SDG&E’s Power Your Drive program, which funded the equipment and installation.
Installing electric vehicle charging stations at its operations center and administration office is the latest cost control initiative undertaken by the Helix Water District. It received rebates of $5,500 from the State of California for each of six Toyota Prius automobiles purchase over the past two years. The vehicles average over 75 miles per gallon. The district expects to save an additional $1,000 per vehicle per year in avoided fuel costs. Integrating electric vehicles into the Helix vehicle fleet will accelerate when hybrid light-duty trucks become available.
But controlling costs isn’t the only motivation for going electric. Helix’s board of directors also wants its district to be part of the solution – to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the sustainability of the communities it serves and the sustainability of California’s water resources.
The Power Your Drive program is for companies and their employees, and apartment and condominium complexes and their residents, and is part of SDG&E’s commitment to comply with Governor Brown’s goal of having 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles in California by 2025. SDG&E has installed more than 900 electric vehicle charging nozzles to date. The power utility’s goal is to install 3,000 nozzles at about 300 sites throughout San Diego County.
Front to back: Helix board President Kathleen Hedberg, Helix Director Mark Gracyk, Lemon Grove councilwoman Jennifer Mendoza, Helix director Dan McMillan, El Cajon deputy director of public works Yazmin Arellano, SDG&E electric vehicle customer solutions manager Lianna Rios and La Mesa analyst Jenny Lybeck. Arellano and Lybeck manage their city’s climate action plan. Photo: Courtesy Helix Water District
Energy cost Helix Water District $2.2 million during the past fiscal year, primarily to pump water throughout the agency’s distribution system, which serves 275,000 people in El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Spring Valley and other unincorporated areas of the county. Controlling energy costs, and their impact on water rates, is a priority for the district.
Helix maintains operations and design standards that reduce its energy demand during peak periods when energy prices are higher, and it purchases energy through the State of California’s Direct Access Program, saving an average of 18 percent on commodity costs. The district continually evaluates opportunities to replace aging infrastructure with energy efficient solutions. Smart building systems at each of the district’s facilities and a solar energy system at its operations center further reduce energy demands and costs.
Vista, Calif. – Vista Irrigation District has been presented with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) for fiscal year ending June 30, 2017. This certificate is the only national award for public sector financial reporting.
The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government agency and its management team. This marks the eleventh year the district has received recognition for excellence in financial reporting and transparency.
Fallbrook, Calif. – After a nationwide search with a pool of 54 candidates, the Fallbrook Public Utility District has a new general manager at the helm. Jack Bebee has been the district’s acting general manager for months. Prior to that, he served as the district’s chief engineer and assistant general manager.
Bebee was selected by the board of directors in March but remained in the “acting general manager” role until his contract was approved at the Aug. 27 board meeting.
He replaces Brian Brady who retired in January after seven years with the district.
Bebee, 42, is a civil engineer with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Washington and Lee University. He also holds two master’s degrees: one in civil engineering from University of Illinois and another in business administration from Cal State University San Marcos.
He has been with the district 10 years and came to FPUD from the private sector. He was hired as a consulting engineer working for Malcolm Pirnie (now Arcadis), an environmental engineering company with a primary focus in water and wastewater, where he managed large-facility treatment projects.
Bebee was the lead in the job to begin the state-of-the-art process of using ultraviolet light to disinfect the water in Red Mountain Reservoir, the district’s 440-million-gallon reservoir.
This innovative project was the first of its kind in California. Using UV light to disinfect the open, treated-water reservoir meant FPUD could forego more expensive options: either placing a cover on the reservoir or building new covered storage facilities.
Bebee’s expertise quickly caught the attention of FPUD management and he was hired soon after completing the job.
Since then, that project has received state awards and Bebee has been instrumental in a number of other projects for the district.
“We knew we needed someone with strong engineering experience and an equally strong commitment to the community,” said Board President Al Gebhart. “Jack is very intelligent, incredibly dedicated and works hard until the job is done – and done well.”
Other projects he has lead include the installation of solar panels at the water reclamation plant on Alturas Road, a massive overhaul and upgrade of the plant in 2015, and most recently the Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use joint project with Camp Pendleton which will allow FPUD to use local water.
“Jack was a key player in this project and reaching a landmark decision resolving 66 years of legal battles,” Gebhart said.
The conjunctive use project will capture locally available water that currently flows through the Santa Margarita River and into the ocean. The project creates a local water supply that will reduce FPUD’s dependence on expensive imported water. It is expected to produce about 30 percent of the district’s water and is anticipated to be online in 2020.
Bebee lives in Bonsall with his wife, Candace.
Fallbrook, Calif. – Kate Calhoun, a junior at Fallbrook High, spent most of her summer Tuesday mornings at the Fallbrook Public Utility District as the district’s first paid summer intern. Now that school is back in session, she is back in class and recently finished her final task for the district.
The final part of her eight-week internship was spent creating a PowerPoint presentation for the board of directors at the Aug. 27 board meeting. In that presentation, she highlighted what she learned during her experience and how she will put that new knowledge to work.
“This introduced me to possible careers I was not aware of,” Calhoun said.
Fallbrook, Calif. – After a nationwide search with a pool of 54 candidates, the Fallbrook Public Utility District has a new general manager at the helm. Jack Bebee has been the district’s acting general manager for months. Prior to that, he served as the district’s chief engineer and assistant general manager.
Bebee was selected by the board of directors in March but remained in the “acting general manager” role until his contract was approved at the Aug. 27 board meeting.
He replaces Brian Brady who retired in January after seven years with the district.
Bebee, 42, is a civil engineer with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Washington and Lee University. He also holds two master’s degrees: one in civil engineering from University of Illinois and another in business administration from Cal. State University San Marcos.
Encinitas, CA—Olivenhain Municipal Water District is encouraging local high school and college students to enter California Special Districts Association’s Districts Make the Difference video contest for a chance to win a scholarship of up to $2,000. Aspiring filmmakers can create a 60-second video telling the story of a special district, such as Olivenhain Municipal Water District, which increases public awareness and understanding of the services California’s special districts provide to residents.
