Candidate for
Director; East Bay Municipal Utility District; Ward 3

East Bay MUD is acknowledged as the leading utility in environmental issues, and my leadership has helped keep that distinction. Our plans for the future include increasing our conservation efforts, additional water re-cycling, more solar power installations, and reducing our carbon footprint. I'm proud that we've become a net power generator, creating green power out of waste, thus making our waste-water treatment plant completely independent, and even selling green power to the Port of Oakland!

But our population keeps growing even though our boundaries are set. Our system has plenty of water in average and wet years, but we need to keep looking for sources for dry years. I have been working closely with San Joaquin Supervisors and staff on a pilot project for a conjunctive use program. The concept is simple: in wet years, EBMUD would provide water to improve the underground aquifers in San Joaquin County. I dry years, we would be able to extract half of that water for our customers. Another win/win ---- San Joaquin would be restoring their depleted aquifers and EBMUD would have a guaranteed source to alleviate droughts.

My Priorities:

Conservation: While many of you are very conscientious about conserving (thank you, and please keep it up!), it's important to reach out to those who are not aware of the many ways you can conserve easily. EBMUD has home surveys you can request to help you discover inadvertent waste, and our conservation team can even come out to you if needed. We offer rebates for washers that qualify as low-water users, and we have started a recognition program for businesses that reduce their usage significantly.

Water Recycling: EBMUD has been a leader in water recycling for years. We provide recycled water to the Chevron oil refinery for their cooling towers and other uses (over a million gallons a day). Our waste water plant provides the reclaimed water for the Bay corridor, including our EBMUD administration building. In partnership with Dublin-San Ramon Services District, we can water playing fields, golf courses and other public spaces in the Danville and San Ramon area. As our population grows, the need for additional water resources is evident, and we need to increase our efforts to re-use our precious supply.

Solar Installation: Providing water is very energy intensive. Although our water from the Mokelumne River comes completely by gravity to our District, it still must be treated and pumped to our reservoirs. EBMUD has installed solar panels on the obvious, large areas (tops of some of our larger reservoirs and buildings), we must now look for smaller installation opportunities that can further reduce our reliance on the grid. With new technology, the cost of installation is expected to go down, making it more cost effective.

Carbon Footprint: The EBMUD Board has a goal to reduce indirect emissions to zero by 2040 and reduce direct emissions by 50% by 2040 compared to the 2000 baseline. Global warming could have a serious effect on our water supply, and our waste water treatment plant could be threatened by a rising bay. We are proud that our waste water plant, producing clean, green electricity from food scraps, is now creating more power than it uses, making the plant totally independent. Solar power, new technology and updating our vehicles are some of the ways we'll be working toward our goal.