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The authority on San Diego water: Questions for Maureen Stapleton

Posted by: Maven on July 3, 2009 at 6:07 am

From the Voice of San Diego:

When we last sat down for an extensive interview with Maureen Stapleton, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, the region’s water wholesaler, the current water shortage hadn’t yet unfolded. We talked, among other things, about her coffee-table books.

In the three years since, a lengthy list of endangered fish have restricted operations of the pumps that deliver water to Southern California from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a major source. Levels in Lake Mead, a key storage reservoir on the Colorado River, another major source, have continued dropping. The potential impacts of climate change on the snowfall that yields our water supplies have become clearer. And water-use restrictions started across the county for the first time in two decades. So we had a lot to talk about.

The water authority’s stated mission is to provide a safe and reliable water supply to its 24 member agencies. Water restrictions went into effect across the county today (July 1). Does that represent a failure on the water authority’s behalf?
I think this year we will not be able to achieve our fundamental mission. It is very troubling for me. We have made tremendous strides in increasing water reliability for this region. Probably more so than any other region in California — between the increase in local supplies, conservation, recycling, the Quantification Settlement Agreement, the completion of the two canal (lining projects).

Tremendous progress has been made, but that progress didn’t come quick enough for us to avoid some cut. Had this 13 percent cut arrived five years from now, we’d be in a much different place.

Read more from the Voice of San Diego by clicking here.

July 3, 2009 · Filed Under San Diego

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