Tag Archive for: Cuyamaca College

‘Women in Water’ Conference Aims to Expand Career Options

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It boils down to bringing more women into the water and wastewater industry.

That’s the central message from organizers of the second annual Women in Water – Exploring Career Pathways conference set for Jan. 17 at the Center for Water Studies at Cuyamaca College in El Cajon. Registration for the day-long series of workshops and panel discussions is open through Jan. 15.

Sandy Kerl, deputy general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, will be the keynote speaker. Speakers also include Cari Dale, water utilities director for the City of Oceanside; Vicki Quiram, general manager of the Carlsbad Municipal Water District; Tish Berge, general manager of the Sweetwater Authority; and Lan Wiborg, deputy director of long-range planning and water resources for the City of San Diego.

The Center for Water Studies is working with the National Science Foundation to boost the number of women entering the industry, and Women in Water is among its initiatives. Target audiences include women contemplating a career change; women in the water and wastewater industry looking to advance their careers; military veterans transitioning to civilian life; and high school girls seeking to learn more about career opportunities as they near graduation.

Pending retirements offer opportunities

An unprecedented number of retiring workers in the next few years opens the opportunity to recruit new talent to the water industry. Photo: Cuyamaca College

“The local water industry is anticipating losing between 1,200 and 1,400 people in critical jobs in the coming years because of pending retirements, which provides a tremendous opportunity to further diversify our workforce,” said Don Jones, a conference coordinator. “Anyone interested in a good-paying career that is making a difference in people’s lives might want to consider registering for Women in Water.”

Conference supporters include the Water Authority, the California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association, the California Water Environment Association, and the Association of California Water Agencies. Lunch, refreshments and parking are included in the $25 registration fee. Students are free. Cuyamaca College is at 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway, El Cajon.

 

 

 

 

Don Jones, the veteran water industry professional who is overseeing the transition of Cuyamaca College’s Water and Wastewater Technology program into the Center for Water Studies. Photo: David Ogul, Water Authority

Center for Water Studies Moves Into New Home at Cuyamaca College

/in , /by by Water News Network staff

The transformation of Cuyamaca College’s trailblazing Water and Wastewater Technology Program into the Center for Water Studies is all but complete.

Among the premier water and wastewater training facilities in California, the Center for Water Studies relocated in late August to a renovated complex complete with new classrooms, a water quality analysis laboratory and a workshop for back flow, cross-connection controls, and related skills-based courses. The complex sits next to a state-of-the-art field operations skills yard that opened in January, with an above-ground water distribution system and an underground wastewater collection system. The facility aims to simulate the challenges that students will face on the job in advanced water and wastewater facilities.

“With the completion of these new facilities, our Center for Water Studies is now the flagship water and wastewater technology program in the entire California Community Colleges’ system, and one of the premier programs of its kind available anywhere in the western United States,” said Don Jones, the veteran water industry professional overseeing the transition of Cuyamaca College’s Water and Wastewater Technology program into the Center for Water Studies for the past decade.

The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District’s Proposition V construction bond provided $1.2 million in funding to reconstruct the building. Funds from the college’s National Science Foundation’s “California WaterWorks: Building the People Pipeline” grant helped pay for tools and equipment to foster a learn-by-doing environment. The Field Operations Skills Yard was built through approximately $200,000 from a California Community Colleges Strong Workforce grant, more than $70,000 from the National Science Foundation grant, and approximately $130,000 in pipe fittings, valves, meters and other equipment donated by water industry manufacturers and distributors.

Producing the next generation of water professionals

Don Ogul in the new water quality analysis laboratory at the Center for Water Studies at Cuyamaca College, which opened last week. Photo: David Ogul, Water Authority.

Don Jones in the new water quality analysis laboratory at the Center for Water Studies at Cuyamaca College, which opened last week. Photo: David Ogul, Water Authority.

The Center for Water Studies is already making a difference in a region where water industry professionals are needed to replace the more than 1,200 industry employees who are at or nearing retirement age. The Center has been reaching out to high school students in STEM fields, transitioning military, women, and other traditionally underrepresented populations to explore water and wastewater technology careers. The Center collaborates with Grossmont Union High School District science instructors and water industry experts to develop specialized lesson plans related to water and wastewater management skills.

In January 2019, the Center for Water Studies will host the second annual Women in Water: Exploring Career Pathways symposium. Recently, nine Center for Water Studies students were among 17 selected to participate in the 2018-2019 San Diego Region Water and Wastewater Internships program supported by the Water Authority, its member agencies, and community college water and wastewater technology programs.

The Center’s National Science Foundation grant, which totals almost $900,000, will cover the cost of curriculum development among the participating agencies and educators.

Water industry professionals supportive of program’s goals

The Center for Water Studies evolved through discussions with the Cuyamaca College Water and Wastewater Technology Program’s Industry Advisory Committee, which comprises water industry professionals from the Water Authority and many of its member agencies. Support from local water agencies has been strong. The Otay Water District’s Board of Directors presented Cuyamaca College President Julianna Barnes with a $5,000 check for the new center in August.

An official dedication ceremony for the new complex is tentatively set for January.

Paul Redeker surveys displays at The Water Conservation Garden, located on the campus of Cuyamaca College. Photo: David Ogul, Water Authority

Inspiring Change at The Water Conservation Garden

/in , /by by Water News Network staff

Horticulture director embraces educational mission

WaterSmart landscapes are transforming San Diego County’s neighborhoods in part due to the work of Paul Redeker and his colleagues at The Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon.

“We’re a learning center, not just a place where you’re surrounded by beautiful plants,” said Redeker, who recently returned for a second run as director of horticulture and facilities the garden. “All of our exhibits are geared toward teaching. We are all about educating the public to be inspired to make changes in their lives because we’re literally at the end of the water pipeline.”

Driving that point home is a giant pipe protruding from a landscaped embankment with water trickling from its opening into a lily pond near the entrance to this one-of-a-kind, six-acre conservation showcase on the campus of Cuyamaca College.

“I love the educational element,” Redeker said. “The learning that goes on in this garden regarding low-water options is wonderful.”

‘Wonderful’ low-water options

The Water Conservation Garden feature a Native Habitat Garden, the Compost Exhibit, the Veggie Garden and the Succulent Garden. Take a free, docent-led tour the first Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. Illustration: The Garden

The Water Conservation Garden feature a Native Habitat Garden, the Compost Exhibit, the Veggie Garden and the Succulent Garden. Take a free, docent-led tour the first Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. Illustration: The Garden

Opened in 1999, The Water Conservation Garden is owned by a joint powers agency comprising the San Diego County Water Authority, the Otay Water District, the Helix Water District, the Sweetwater Authority, the City of San Diego Public Utilities and Cuyamaca College. From the start, the garden was seen as an important conservation tool in a region with few natural water resources.

More than 30,000 people visit each year, and the garden’s programs reach an additional 80,000. It is the educational element that lured Redeker back. “The learning that goes on in this garden regarding low-water options is wonderful,” he said.

Born and raised on a Sonoma County ranch, Redeker earned his bachelor’s degree in ornamental horticulture, with a focus on landscape design, from Cal Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. He worked at several Northern California nurseries before exploring other career interests overseas.

Redeker returned to California and was designing landscapes for a San Diego company when he fell in love with public gardens and landed a position as The Water Conservation Garden’s director of horticulture more than 10 years ago.

After five years in El Cajon, he expanded his professional expertise at the San Diego Botanic Garden, another regional showcase garden in Encinitas. “It gave me a wonderful understanding of how larger gardens operate,” said Redeker.

A constantly evolving gem of a garden

Plans are underway for new displays including an interactive irrigation exhibit, watershed exhibit, and a new outdoor classroom. Photo: David Ogul, Water Authority

Plans are underway for new displays including an interactive irrigation exhibit, watershed exhibit, and a new outdoor classroom. Photo: David Ogul, Water Authority

Redeker returned to his “little gem of a garden” last fall, and he is thrilled with the opportunities to innovate. “We are always looking to improve the experience so that when people come back, they can see something new and fresh,” he said.

Projects under way or in the planning stages at The Water Conservation Garden include:

  •  An interactive irrigation exhibit to help visitors understand and appreciate different types of water-saving technologies.
  •  A watershed exhibit with a “follow the raindrop” feature that illustrates the benefits of strategic stormwater management.
  •  More than a dozen strategically placed, drought-tolerant trees – including the Silk Oak , Blue Atlas Cedar, Sweetshade, and the Variegated Brisbane box – have been planted throughout the garden to help keep summertime temperatures in check.
  •  An expanded indoor classroom that will more than triple capacity to nearly 100.
  •  A new outdoor classroom, covered with a shade structure, will replace the current outdoor class space.

“The new classroom is going to be huge for us,” said Pam Meisner, the garden’s director of operations and programs. “We simply don’t have the room to accommodate demand for all of our adult-education landscaping and gardening classes.”

Among the permanent features is a Retrofit Backyard Exhibit that includes a traditional backyard lawn – complete with a depiction of a homeowner struggling to mow a greenbelt that drinks some 28,000 gallons of water annually – adjacent to a more visually appealing, and less labor-intensive garden featuring drought-tolerant plants that uses just 6,000 gallons of water each year.

“People are being smarter and much more creative with what they’re doing with their landscape,” said Redeker. “We’re seeing smarter plant choices, more hardscape, more patios, more mulch, dry streambeds and the like, and it’s making a difference.”