For my last President’s Message, I’ll start by thanking all of the past presidents who provided me with this opportunity and the guidance necessary to do the job. I also want to thank Debbie LoCicero for the great job she does to make the chapter run smoothly and Lisa Thut for being a fantastic newsletter champion. Finally, I’d like to thank Dana Remington for taking over the position so I can go to Hawaii without any Sierra Chapter Presidential responsibilities.
On Thursday, May 19th, I went down to Fresno to attend the San Joaquin Valley Chapter’s Infrastructure Update program. This was a great event with excellent turnout from the public sector, elected officials and consultants. Speakers included representatives from the California Department of Water Resources, Fresno Irrigation District (FID), Caltrans District 6 and Will Kempton, the Executive Director of Transportation California. I think it would be great for the Sierra Chapter to put on a similar event. This could replace a springtime meeting when we have had a hard time with attendance. I guess that this means I’m volunteering to help organize it, if next year’s board would like to do an event like it.
I found the presentation by the Assistant General Manager from FID to be especially interesting. I learned that in the FID service area that farmers don’t pay for the volume of water they use. The reason for this is that the excess water soaks into the ground and becomes groundwater supply. Sometimes, FID asks the farmers to take more water than they need to promote recharge. This situation reminds me that there are a lot of different issues and solutions across the state and we should always beware of one-size-fits-all requirements and inevitable unintended consequences.
As I write this, SB 885 is nearing its vote on the Senate floor. On May 20th, Steve Sanders, Ted Hopkins, Diane Ogden and I visited the offices of Senators Pan, Gaines and Neilsen to indicate our support for the measure. Assuming that it clears the Senate, it could be even harder to get it passed in the Assembly. So, keep an eye out for messages from ACEC-CA about SB 885 and make the time to contact your representative when action is requested.
I hope everyone has a great summer and I am looking forward to seeing you in September when we kick-off 2016-2017 with a Sierra Chapter Engineering Excellence Award program.
