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<br />January 14, 1992
<br />Issue No. 921
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<br />WESTERN ...
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<br />STATES WATER,~",J'N16199l
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<br />THE ~YpNEWSlETTER OF THE WESTERN STATES WAlER COUNCIL
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<br />Creekview Plaza. Suite A"201 I 942 East 7145 So. I Midvale. Utah 84047 I (801) 561-5300 I FAll (801) 255-%42
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<br />chairman - william H. Young
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<br />.'edit0r, - Tony Willardson
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<br />,,,. typist Carrie Cllrvin " ,,,:
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<br />WESTERN STATES WATER COUNCIL
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<br />Quanerly Meetings
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<br />The Western States Water Council held its 105th
<br />quarterly meetings on January 8-10, in Newport
<br />Beach, California. On Wednesday afternoon, the
<br />Orange County Water District (OCWD) hosted a tour
<br />of its facilities for wastewater treatment and the
<br />conjunctive use of surface and ground waters.
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<br />OCWD operates one of the world's most advanced
<br />wastewater treatment plants. Water Factory 21 uses
<br />both a reverse osmosis system and an activated
<br />carbon filtration process to produce some 15,000
<br />acre-feet/year of high quality water from wastewater.
<br />This water is injected underground to form a hydraulic
<br />barrier to sea water intrusion that threatens the fresh
<br />coastal aquifer, which reaches a depth of more than
<br />3,000 feet below sea level and supplies some two
<br />million people in Orange County. OCWD's Green
<br />Acres project reclaims 7,000 acre-feet of wastewater{
<br />year"'(jSirig tertiary- treatriiem. This wafer Irrigatei;"
<br />parks, golf courses, green belts, and is also used for
<br />industrial purposes. Other water quality concerns
<br />include color, nitrates, selenium, synthetic organic
<br />contaminants, and total dissolved solids. OCWD's
<br />Tustin project removes nitrates from well water by
<br />reverse osmosis and ion exchange processes.
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<br />OCWD also holds the rights to all water in the
<br />Santa Anna River, and over the years has recharged
<br />over three million acre-feet (Mal) of river water using
<br />T -levees, spreading basins and recharge pits to
<br />speed infiltration. Another 2.5 Maf of imported water
<br />has been recharged. Dewatering has in the '1!lst left
<br />up to 700,000 acre-feet of aquifer ~torage c<ipacity
<br />available, and growing water delJlanps may !~ad t~,':
<br />drawing down the aquifer by up to 1.5 Mat'during ,
<br />future drought periods.
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<br />executive diredto.l'''''' Cra'ig Bell ..
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<br />On Wednesday evening, the Clean Water Act
<br />(CWA) Reauthorization subcommittee revised a
<br />proposed position to address a new Senate
<br />Environment committee print of S. 1081 IY'lSW #889).
<br />It was further revised by the Water Quality Committee.
<br />The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
<br />subcommittee and Western Governors Association
<br />IY'lGA) staff also mel. Fred Springer, FERC Director
<br />of Hydropower Licensing, discussed a variety of state
<br />concerns. Eventually, the Subcommittee hopes to
<br />develop a memorandum of agreement between FERC
<br />and western states for use in recognizing and
<br />accommodating state-granted water rights in the
<br />federal hydropower licensing process. For the
<br />present, there appears to be a growing recognition of
<br />the need for cooperative federal/state action in order
<br />to increase hydropower production, while protecting
<br />other water uses and environmental vallJes. ""
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<br />Th~o, COljBCWs,."wor~if/9 d;gmJ1ilitt~s,~t ,,,,qf),!
<br />Thursday, The Water Quality Committee fjl'l\l,lJ!!~.
<br />Allah'St6kes, President of the Association of State
<br />and Interstate W:t\f'lr PoIJytJ()\l)18ntr<1lt~dm!{l~",
<br />describe recent ASW>iPCA 3!:livities ali~9Pl?AAunities"
<br />for cooperative actions on issUes of muW,at. CQ,r,IJ;e.rn
<br />to ASIWPCA and the Council. Next, Robbi Savage,
<br />ASIWPCA's Executive Director and th~ President of
<br />America's Clean Water Foundation, explained her'
<br />efforts to ~!Jcate the public on water quality issues
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<br />while celElprating the 20th anniversarycpf enactment
<br />O! the.;(~~n Water Act. The. Committee then
<br />discussed the CWA reauthorization, and related
<br />western issues. The WGA, WSWC, and Western
<br />5.enate Coalition, will also meet with EPA to discuss '
<br />these issues on February 7. Next, Dr. David Carlson
<br />of California's State Water Resources Control BO!ll'd
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<br />addressed EPA's toxics standards enf~rc~
<br />Lastly, the Committee adopted a new 1!1~-work pr~t-
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