It’s been an egg-citing week for Vice Chair Frank Hilliker whose family owned and operated egg ranch in Lakeside has been getting a lot of media attention after more than 80 years in business. Check out this video story about Hilliker’s ranch in California Bountiful. bit.ly/4g2JyJn
Join us! The Water Authority is hiring for a Senior Construction Manager. Are you or someone you know qualified for this position? Check out the job postings and apply at sdcwa.org/careers!
It goes without saying that wind-driven wildfires in Los Angeles this week have by all accounts been devastating. What happens to one Southern California water community is felt by all of us in the industry. Our hearts go out to residents, public safety personnel and our colleagues who are dealing with circumstances beyond anyone’s control. The scale of events that we are witnessing in real time can quickly overwhelm prudent planning.
In San Diego County, we are well-prepared for wildfires, in part because we endured them in 2003 and 2007. Our crews learned lessons in those events that will serve us well when the next fires hit. Just this week, we have been operating some facilities manually without incident due to Public Safety Power Shutoffs. This, of course, underscores of the value of maintaining a reliable water supply for the San Diego region. That equation includes both sufficient water resources and well-maintained regional infrastructure – two resources that this region has invested in heavily for decades.
We can assure you that as a region we have plenty of surface water in reservoirs like Olivenhain and San Vicente that can be accessed by helicopters for fire suppression. In addition, the regional Water Agency Emergency Collaborative streamlines mutual aid to shift resources where they are needed most. Our operations staff is participating in Emergency Operations Center calls with SDG&E on a daily basis, and we continue to monitor emergency response efforts by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which is based in Los Angeles.
We expect these efforts to continue into next week given the potential for winds to pick up again in our region.
