Candidate for
Director; Municipal Water District of Orange County; Area 5

Water is our most precious commodity. Taking water quality for granted has created serious problems for the people of California in general and here in Southern California in a very particular way, through over development without new technology infrastructure. We do know that what is in our water can hurt us and that a limited supply will cause the price to rise. Government is designed to do what we cannot do for ourselves. Therefore our water district's mission is to ensure that we as citizens are provided safe, quality drinking water and that the public health will be directly safeguarded through those efforts.

Today, rapid development of both commercial and residential properties throughout the state has increased the demand for potable(safe to drink)water and water for irrigation and agricultural purposes. What seems inconsistent in the present philosophy is that "reclaimed water" is being touted as the answer to our deminishing "potable" water supply for Southern California, while agriculture demands the upstream "potable" water for their farming needs. If "reclaimed water" is safe to place on golf courses, public play fields and for plants around offices and commercial projects - why won't the farmers be very happy to take that reclaimed water and trade it back for their upstream potable water? The argument is that would be "too expensive" to run hundreds of miles of pipe for this purpose. Too expensive to insure the public health or too expensive in what might happen to the agricultural crops that are watered with "reclaimed water"?

Think of this, "reclaimed water" contains suspended viruses. It requires approximately 20 feet of natural filtration to remove the effects of suspended viruses on the water supply. Of the water that we all use in our homes, how much of that water is directed to cooking or drinking, laundry, washing the dishes, bathroom sink or shower? How much is used for toilets? Wouldn't it make sense to utilize "reclaimed water" solely in our toilets? Even that sounds disgusting, doesn't it? So what is the answer? The integrity of water in our homes must be assured, at all costs! We cannot, worry about our cat or dog drinking out of the toilet, or worse, our toddler niece or nephew that is trying to emulate "Fluffy" by doing the same thing. Ultra violet light is the only known answer to "suspended viruses" and it must be a concentrated application for a period of time.

As your water director in District #5, the quality of our water and the professional running of the District will be overseen with a very critical eye - on water quality, safety and on cost! These issues require immediate action in both a local and regional sense. We need to work with the Sanitation Districts, the OCWD and Metro Water District to assure compliance to quality, safe drinking water.