Ismahan Abdullahi was seated on the Board of Directors on January 25, 2021, representing the City of San Diego. Director Abdullahi serves on the Administrative and Finance and Engineering and Operations committees for the Water Authority.
Editor’s Note: This feature highlights new members of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 36-member Board of Directors. Each of the Water Authority’s 24 member agencies appoints at least one representative to the Board, which sets policy for the Water Authority.
Who: Ismahan Abdullahi was seated on the Board of Directors on January 25, 2021, representing the City of San Diego. Director Abdullahi serves on the Administrative and Finance and Engineering and Operations committees for the Water Authority.
Background/Education: Abdullahi earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology at UC San Diego and a Master’s degree in Education with a concentration in counseling at San Diego State University. She serves as the Executive Director of MAS-PACE (Muslim American Society-Public Affairs and Civic Engagement). She also serves on the board of local community based organizations and institutions, with more than a decade of nonprofit experience.
Q: How did you get interested in water issues?
A: Water is life itself. It is one of the key elements that is often taken for gratitude when it is available in abundance and sought after when it is limited. My interest in water issues is deeply personal. As a refugee from Somalia, I know the impact inadequately sanitized or treated water can have on families, introducing diseases such as cholera. We’ve seen how water contaminants and unsafe water (such as the water crisis in Flint, Michigan) has disproportionately impacted Indigenous, low-income and communities of color, particularly our Black and Brown communities. As a community advocate and organizer, I’ve seen the impact that rate increases and high water bills continue to further inequities in refugee, immigrant, and poverty stricken communities. My interest in water lies in my lived experience and over a decade of engaging in community work and seeing that impact firsthand.
Q: What are your priorities or interests as a Board member?
A: Policies and decisions made regarding water reliability, access, quality and safety have a direct impact on the lives of everyday San Diegans who are trying to thrive. I sincerely hope to bring an equity centered lens that honors both our environment and our communities. As a board member, I want us to bring forth creative solutions that meet the needs of our ratepayers and our region for generations to come. The COVID-19 crisis has further exacerbated the very inequities we knew existed before, leaving many San Diegans left with immensely high water bills. Equitable access to water, an inclusive and community centered space that prioritizes ratepayers and our environment and reliable and safe water for our future remain top priorities for me.
Q: Besides maintaining safe and reliable water supplies, what do you see as the top three issues facing the San Diego region?
A: Our region needs to adopt a racial equity framework in how it conducts business. In our region, we are facing a worsening housing crisis, climate emergency and the lack of a guaranteed living wage for the very people that are the backbone of our economy. We must be bold in our solutions and intersectional in facing our challenges. We cannot tackle our issues as a region without an intersectional equity framework.
Q: What do you like to do when you are not working?
A: My passion outside of working is to enjoy nature and reading. A nice walk at the beach, hike or quality time spent with loved ones in the outdoors is always a joy and a blessing.
The Water Authority’s Board of Directors typically meets on the fourth Thursday of each month. The Board invites the public to attend its monthly meetings and to comment on agenda items or other matters before the Board. For meeting times, agendas and documents, go to www.sdcwa.org/board-directors.
San Diego is seeking input from the public on a new water plan introduced by Mayor Todd Gloria. Under the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan, the city would develop more than half of the city’s water locally by 2045.
I’ve been writing a lot about the broken sewage system in Tijuana causing spills into San Diego. Part of the concern, San Diego officials told me, is that Mexico lacks a system to monitor whether businesses are dumping toxic waste into the sewer system.
That’s part of the reason why it’s risky to reuse any of that river water because, if we don’t know what’s in the water, we can’t be sure how to best treat it.
San Diego is ready to start building the long-awaited Pure Water sewage recycling system, now that city officials have resolved litigation that delayed the project 18 months and increased its estimated cost to $5 billion, city officials say.
Pure Water will boost San Diego’s water independence by recycling 83 million gallons of treated sewage into potable drinking water by 2035.
All regulatory permits have been secured and construction bids are being opened and analyzed for the 10 projects that will make up Pure Water phase one, a large treatment facility slated to open in 2025 near Miramar that will be connected to many miles of pipeline in the northern part of the city.
More San Diego farmland will be eligible for an agricultural conservation program under new rules the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved Wednesday.
San Diego has lost much of its farmland over the past decade. Since 2009, about 60,000 acres — 20 percent of San Diego County’s agricultural land — has been converted to other uses.
The county has tried to stem that decline through the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement, which is called the PACE program.
The City of San Diego plans to develop more than half of its water locally under a plan introduced by Mayor Todd Gloria.
The plan intends to develop more than 50% of the city’s locally by 2045. A major factor in this goal will be the city’s Pure Water recycling program, which purifies recycled water to be used as safe drinking water. The project is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2035 and have the capacity to create 83 million gallons of water daily.
San Diego announced Tuesday that the system it’s building to purify wastewater well enough for drinking will provide enough water to cover half its population. That’s a significant increase over previous messaging that touted the Pure Water program would cover one third of the city’s water supply by 2035.
As part of his efforts to create a more sustainable future for all of us, Mayor Todd Gloria today publicly released a new analysis of San Diego’s future water needs that indicates that the City will develop more than 50% of its water locally by 2045, in large part due to the Pure Water recycling program. This will be a dramatic increase in local water supply, which currently requires the City to purchase 85% to 90% of its water from imported sources.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors today unanimously approved a formal resolution reaffirming its longstanding support for potable reuse and water recycling projects developed by local member agencies across the region.
“Projects such as Pure Water San Diego, Pure Water Oceanside and the East County Advanced Water Purification Project are critical to the continued development of local water sources that help sustain the region’s 3.3 million residents and $245 billion economy,” said Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher.
