Shawn Dewane: Investing for a not-so rainy day


By SHAWN DEWANE / Contributing Writer

Shawn Dewane: Investing for a not-so rainy day

image0-Shawn Dewane: Investing for a not-so rainy day

Gov. Jerry Brown declared California is in a state of emergency due to the drought. This announcement shouldn’t come as a surprise to Southern Californians since we live in a semi-desert region. The average rainfall is 13 inches. However, rainfall in 2013 was a mere 3.6 inches, making it the driest year on record. The declaration has caused a bit of panic and rightfully so. Cities, businesses and residents rely on water for economic growth and sustainability, and to preserve public health. Orange County’s gross domestic product is $188.9 billion and its taxable sales are $51.7 billion, making it the 39th largest economy in the world. So, do we have enough water supplies to get us through this drought and support our vital economy?

I am pleased to say Orange County will weather these conditions better than other California regions thanks to community support for investments in local water infrastructure and water use efficiency measures in our homes and businesses. Despite increases in our local population, total water demands for our region have remained relatively stable which shows we are becoming more efficient in our water use. Orange County is about to see some of the benefits of these past investments, but we are still not completely out of the woods.

North and central Orange County are in a unique position having a local groundwater basin, which is managed by the Orange County Water District. Knowing the probability of drought in California, three in every ten years, OCWD saves reserve funds to prepare for and respond to drought conditions. The District spent $44 million, from accumulated reserves, in fiscal year 2011-12 and about $22 million this year to purchase imported water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. This helped to refill the groundwater basin despite receiving less than average Santa Ana River flows and reduced rainfall on the groundwater basin. Although groundwater levels are falling quickly, they are still within normal historic operating range.

In addition to saving for a not-so rainy day, continuous planning, designing, building and operations of cost-effective water infrastructure projects have been core functions of OCWD since 1933. The community’s investment in water infrastructure is fundamental to help our region sustain drought conditions. OCWD recently invested $142 million to expand the Groundwater Replenishment System, an award-winning water purification system that takes treated wastewater from the Orange County Sanitation District and purifies it to meet or exceed drinking water standards. The expansion, which will be completed in early 2015, will produce an additional 30 million gallons a day, taking the GWRS total production to 100 MGD. In addition to being drought-resistant, GWRS water is about half the cost of imported supplies and is controlled locally, saving cities in our service area millions of dollars annually. The expansion will allow stable, if not more, pumping from the groundwater basin.

While the GWRS, successful groundwater management, local infrastructure and conservation have made the region significantly less vulnerable to drought compared to other cities in California, we need to continue to do more to protect and maximize water supplies not only in Orange County but throughout California. We need to maximize water reuse and tap into the 1.3 billion gallons of treated wastewater from our sewer systems that get lost to the Pacific Ocean every day in Southern California; we need to continue to practice water-use efficiency year-round; and, we need to explore other solutions, such as ocean desalination and water transfers. Orange County can breathe easier than other communities due to past efforts, but as weather patterns continue to be more extreme, we must keep planning and investing in our water infrastructure to ensure water reliability.

Shawn Dewane is president of the Orange County Water District. He is working to increase the local and regional water supply, preserve local and regional water rights, and promote fiscal responsibility and transparency in government. He resides in Costa Mesa with his wife Tracey, daughters Shannon and Cristina, and son Ryan.



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