2001 Award Recipients

In 2001, the committee honored those individuals, public and nonprofit agencies, and private companies who have undertaken extraordinary efforts to implement and/or promote holistic water management programs and policies.

Rod Hall

Rod Hall, an environmental specialist at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, does not believe his work at the Folsom office is just a job. Rod believes he must fulfill the spirit of the law.

Rod has worked diligently to ensure that physical changes at the Folsom Dam contribute to restoring the anadromous fish populations. In the face of strong opposition, Rod made sure that temperature control devices were installed on the urban water intakes of the Dam. These devices mean that the fish have more of a fighting chance on the South Fork of the American River.

He has been just as diligent at protecting the North and Middle forks of the American River. Rod headed the team to work on closing the tunnel at the Auburn Dam site. The tunnel had diverted the North and Middle Fork American River from their original riverbeds in advance of the proposed construction of an Auburn dam. Under threat from Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the U.S. Department of the Interior agreed to close the tunnel, but it was Rod who transformed this from simply a bureaucratic exercise into an opportunity to fully restore the river as a navigable waterway. Rod's decision to hire river design experts means that the community of Auburn and the 500,000 people who visit the North and Middle Forks of the river each year will have great recreational opportunities.

Rod Hall is a role model for all government employees who have the courage to articulate a vision and who never give up.

Northern California Dual-Plumbed High-Rise

An award is being made jointly to the East Bay Municipal Utility District and to the Shorenstein Company for their partnership in promoting the use of recycled water by dual plumbing 555 City Center, a premier office building in an infill and redevelopment area of downtown Oakland.

East Bay MUD demonstrated extraordinary initiative to ensure that the concept and reality of recycled water use would benefit from a partnership with the nation's leading commercial real estate development firm. This effort was recognized by the San Francisco Chronicle, which noted in a news feature, "With an imaginative reach uncommon among public agencies, the East Bay Municipal Utility District has linked its campaign to increase the use of recycled water to 555 City Center . . ." It is remarkable that East Bay MUD made this partnership happen, especially given how far along the building was in the development process at the time that this project became known to the Office of Water Recycling, which was just two weeks before the first drawings for the building were due.

The Shorenstein Company showed commendable commitment to sustainable development and resource conservation by agreeing to alter its building plans to include dual plumbing to make use of recycled water for toilet and urinal flushing. This will be the first high-rise building in Northern California to be dual plumbed and will result in 11.2-acre feet of drinking water being saved each year.

The El Segundo Boiler Feed Recycled Water Supply Program

An excellent example of public agencies and private companies working together to create an extraordinary water supply process that provides public and private economic benefits, environmental benefits, and regional/statewide benefits of water conservation and drought-proofing.

The Boiler Feed Recycled Water Supply Program is a $26 million project developed by the West Basin Municipal Water District in partnership with Chevron, the City of El Segundo, the Metropolitan Water District, United Water, and four engineering firms. It produces 4.3 million gallons per day of two grades of high purity recycled water for Chevron's high pressure and low pressure boilers in the City of El Segundo. The low-pressure boiler feed water has less than 60 mg/l of TDS. The high-pressure water has less than 5 mg/l of TDS. In order to produce these gradations, the project processes secondary effluent through membrane treatments, and additionally uses clear wells, piping and pumping, decarbonation, microfiltration, and reverse osmosis facilities.

The project provides a reliable, high quality water supply to Chevron 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It reduces effluent discharge to the Santa Monica Bay. It conserves potable water. Using recycled water in this process is more economical than using imported water. The project helps to drought-proof Chevron, El Segundo, and the region. And, it adds to the science of recycling, through a unique process called "Double Pass Reverse Osmosis," which yields ultra high quality recycled water. West Basin MWD deserves recognition for this outstanding program.

The Alamar River Project

The Alamar River, located in the eastern section of urbanized Tijuana Baja California, is a major tributary of the Tijuana River and a major source of recharge for the Tijuana River aquifer. Mexico's National Water Commission planned to channelize the Alamar River with a concrete channel to make more land available for urban development. Carlos Graizbord, Director of the Municipal Planning Institute of the City of Tijuana (IMPlan) proposed an alternative to concrete channelization - an urban river park. To convince national authorities to consider this alternative, Carlos enlisted the aid of Paul Ganster, Director of the Institute of Regional Studies of the Californias at San Diego State University. In response to Mr. Graizbord's request, Mr. Ganster initiated an applied research project involving students from San Diego State University, and the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC).

Faculty and students conducted research that would support IMPlan's efforts to create a master plan for the Alamar River corridor. The student publication resulting from field research, entitled The Alamar River Corridor: An Urban River Park Oasis in Tijuana, Baja California, details Tijuana's water shortage problem - a problem that may result in water rationing by 2004. One option to avoid rationing is to increase water imports. However this option is extremely expensive. The publication recommends a second cost-effective alternative -- maximizing Tijuana's local potable water resources by protecting groundwater resources beneath the City 's rivers, such as the Alamar River. An urban river park in the Alamar River would increase groundwater recharge, improve water quality and thus enhance the city's water supply.

Carlos Graizbord incorporated the students' integrative and creative recommendations, and presented the Alamar River master plan to the Mexican national government. Officials in Mexico City agreed to support the river park plan. Besides the support from the Mexican government, the Alamar River Project has resulted in an alliance between environmental non-government organizations, charitable foundations, and state/federal agencies to propose a bi-national protected area extending from the Alamar River corridor in Tijuana through Tecate and north to the headwaters of the Tijuana River bi-national watershed - the Cleveland National Forest in the United States.

Another outgrowth of the Alamar River project is the coordinated efforts by SDSU staff and U.S. elected officials to conduct similar research and planning efforts for the San Diego River watershed. Thanks to Carlos, Paul and students from SDSU and UABC, the Alamar River project serves as an integrative planning model for U.S. and Mexican cities.

Senate Bill 221

Through years of conflict and struggle, a unique and persuasive coalition consisting of environmental organizations, agricultural interests, and water agencies, and joined by the Attorney General's Office, continued to push for this common sense approach to land use planning in California. The struggle was alternately hindered and assisted by events that were also occurring in California over the course of those 10 years. Consecutive wet weather years deflected attention from the need for this policy reform, while a handful of court rulings on large development projects around the State drew renewed attention to the legislation.

SB221 faced an extremely arduous path through the Legislature. The bill was heard in four policy committees, one fiscal committee, and considered on the Floor of both Houses, receiving the bare minimum necessary votes at every stop along the way. In addition, there were more than 20 organizations formally opposed to SB 221. The sustained commitment by the author, the sponsors, and the supporters of SB 221 led to nearly a dozen meetings, ranging from large negotiation sessions involving all supporters and opponents to smaller negotiation sessions involving a handful of key opponent groups. These negotiations resulted in amendments to provisions of SB 221 that would result in the neutrality of many of the opponents, and yet retain the integrity of the legislation to ensure that it continued to achieve a strong and meaningful public policy result.

Why a bill that is based on the simple logic of ensuring water is available before a house is built, took 10 years to get enacted into law, is a testament to the perseverance, hard work, dedication, commitment, and vision of those who carried the flag on this hugely successful effort. Those receiving an award for their vision are Senator Sheila Kuehl, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, East Bay Municipal Utility District and Randy Kanouse.

2001 Carla Bard Advocacy Award Recipients

Each year the Carla Bard award celebrates the spirit of our late steering committee member who was chair of the State Water Control Board and a dedicated environmentalist. In 2001 we selected two recipients: an individual and an organization.

Rosalie Cartwright, Founder of California Communities on Water

Though Carla and Rosalie never crossed paths, I'm sure Carla would be delighted that Rosalie is receiving this award. Rosalie is one of those tireless organizers in your community. For those in the Butte Basin, Northern California, Rosalie is an inspiration.

After an unfortunate water sale in 1994, Rosalie joined other local activists in spearheading an initiative for groundwater protection in the Butte Basin. Rosalie helped garner 18,000 signatures in less than a month to put the initiative on the ballot. When the initiative lost out to a competing agri-business-favored groundwater initiative. Rosalie attended almost all of the millions of local meetings trying to get an understanding of how the new law would be implemented. When problems in implementation showed up, from the community standpoint, Rosalie and neighbors went out with another petition pinpointing areas of grave concern. They garnered 5000 signatures and turned it into the Butte County Board of Supervisors. When the Supervisors ignored that petition Rosalie helped put together a water bucket brigade at the State Capital. That got attention!

Rosalie brought together the groundwater agricultural community. Rosalie is a family farmer but more importantly a retired schoolteacher from a one-school community. When Rosalie announced "You better come and learn about this." They came. Another service Rosalie has offered to the community activists is taping meetings others cannot attend. Rosalie and her husband have gone through 3 video tape recorders. At a previous California Water Policy Conference, Rosalie taped a Butte Basin water seller saying selling water was better than a goldmine, because they would just keep selling and selling. That was priceless.

While Rosalie was not the first of the very conservative farmers in the area to realize her community concerns were in alignment with the environmental community, she is still one of the few that will publicly support environmental issues and make sure environmentalists are present at all meetings. Rosalie is the glue that holds her community together. Giving the Carla Bard award to Rosalie is not only to acknowledge her leadership but also to thank all of the other community volunteers throughout California.

North East Trees and The Arroyo Seco Foundation

North East Trees and the Arroyo Seco Foundation are two citizen-based organizations formed to protect and restore the natural environment of the Arroyo Seco and northeast Los Angeles. The Arroyo Seco is a 16-mile fresh water stream flowing out of the San Gabriel Mountains in Angeles National Forest through the cities of Pasadena, South Pasadena, and Los Angeles to its confluence with the Los Angeles River just north of downtown Los Angeles.

The Arroyo Seco Watershed Restoration Feasibility Study, completed this autumn, challenges established local and regional governmental institutions to think anew about the way in which our society treats precious natural stream corridors in an urban environment. The study focuses on four key aspects of stream management: flood control, water resource management, habitat restoration, and recreation and open space. In each of these areas the study advocates innovative approaches that promise a much more eco-friendly relationship to the Arroyo Seco than has existed during the last century, during which the Arroyo Seco became degraded by construction of a massive flood control channel, a busy freeway, lack of land use controls, and general neglect. Fortunately, the Arroyo Seco still retains much of its natural charm that can be enhanced through the kind of thoughtful planning and citizen support that this study represents.

An interdisciplinary team of landscape architects, planners, engineers, and biologists were mobilized to contribute to this ecosystem-based approach to planning and design of measures for watershed improvement. The study team solicited and received cooperation from numerous local, regional, state, and federal agencies during the course of its work. The team also sought and received citizen input into the planning process through several stakeholder and community meetings held throughout the watershed, and incorporated much of this input into its study recommendations.

In response to the outstanding work done by the Arroyo Seco study team, the Arroyo Seco has been selected by the California Resources Agency as one of 10 watershed projects that state officials will use as models for development of a statewide program of watershed restoration.