Out in the Community
As part of its standard to forge and maintain long-term, positive and proactive relationships with members of the local community and greater water industry and to be transparent about its operations and programs, OCWD board members and staff speak regularly before groups and at events. We recently participated in the following:
OCWD President Denis Bilodeau represented the District at the White House State Leadership Day Conference for Alaska and California. More than 3,700 officials from across all 50 states participated in White House State Leadership Days conferences in Washington, D.C., advocating on behalf of a number of different industries.General Manager Mike Markus presented “The Facts from Operating a Membrane Facility for Decades: OCWD, Water Factory 21 and the Groundwater Replenishment System” at the WEFTEC 91st Annual Technical Exhibition & Conference.
- Executive Director of Engineering and Water Resources John Kennedy spoke about future water demands in the OCWD service area, future water supplies, and potential future projects at the September 7 WACO meeting.
- Executive Director of Operations/GWRS Mehul Patel participated in a panel discussion on the importance of source control for potable reuse and Executive Director of Water Quality & Technical Resources Jason Dadakis served on the technical program development committee and moderated a session on innovations in reuse treatment at the 33rd Annual WateReuse Symposium. In addition, R&D Department staff featured OCWD in multiple technical presentations ranging from the GWRS Final Expansion design to innovative monitoring technologies being assessed.
- Director of Recharge & Wetlands Operations John Bonsangue spoke about Groundwater Basin Management and the GWRS at the 34th Annual Tri-State Seminar.
- Executive Director of Planning & Natural Resources Greg Woodside spoke about the Prado Constructed Wetlands before a Chinese Delegation from the Guizhou Department of Forestry and Wetlands Protection Center visiting OCWD facilities.
- Recharge Planning Manager Adam Hutchinson, who serves as vice president of the Groundwater Resources Association (GRA), moderated a session about managed aquifer recharge and was responsible for one of the five tracks for the three-day Western Groundwater Congress.
- Senior Communications Specialist Diane Pinnick spoke before 40 attendees of the Council of Water Utilities, San Diego, about “How the GWRS Overcame the ‘Yuck’ Factor” and distributed GWRS bottled water.
- Plant Operator Curtis Sanders provided a presentation about OCWD and the water cycle to grade school students at Herk Bouris Elementary in Lake Elsinore.
- OCWD and OCSD’s video #GETOVERIT!, about the GWRS Bottled Water Campaign, was a featured Interactive Knowledge Exchange (IKE) video at the WEFTEC 91st Annual Technical Exhibition & Conference.