Volume 10 Issue 1 January

Long-Term Thinking on Water Supply Issues

By Kris Polly

Can Los Angeles be its own main source of water? Through increased storm water capture, water recycling, and groundwater recharge, that is exactly what the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) would like to see. This month, we speak with Martin Adams, LADWP’s general manager and chief engineer, about his fascinating career and the ambitious goals of the agency he heads.

Next, we speak with the general manager of another Southern California water provider, David Pedersen of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD). LVMWD is facing a drought-driven 73 percent reduction in its supply from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, its sole source of water. In response, it is deploying water budgets, a tiered billing system, conservation patrols, and other measures, with significant cooperation from its customers.

Harmful algal blooms are a concern for many water managers, in part because some produce toxins that are dangerous to human health. New York State–based BloomOptix has affordable, high-tech solutions for monitoring blooms and diagnosing their causes. BloomOptix Program and Science Lead Igor Mrdjen tells us about the company’s drone surveys, artificial intelligence– powered microscope device, and more.

The annual December conference held by the Colorado River Water Users Association (CRWUA) will be taking place around the time many subscribers receive this issue. We speak with CRWUA President Aaron Chavez about the importance of the association and its meeting, where upper and lower basin stakeholders come together to try to forge common approaches to common problems.

Cultivating a close-knit, effective team is an aim of all organizations, including municipal water agencies, but it’s not always easy. We speak with Barry Moline, the executive director of the California Municipal Utilities Association and a speaker and writer on workplace collaboration, about how to create effective and collaborative teams.

Strong teams, advanced technology, and long-term thinking—these are all necessary elements for success in the water world in these times of challenging drought. You can find them all in this January issue of Municipal Water Leader, and I know they will all be present in our industry throughout the new year.

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Municipal Water Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He can be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.