My Board Philosophy

Protect our water, today and tomorrow, with a diversified portfolio of both short-term and long-range strategies

Water use efficiency is important, but a one-size-fits-all “just conserve more” approach is short-sighted and doesn’t address the long-term impacts of drought conditions we’re facing. Rancho Water has already taken steps toward improving infrastructure and expanding recycling, conveyance, groundwater capacity and surfacewater storage. However, in addition to local actions, the need for integrated statewide water resiliency has taken on more urgency.

The Governor’s Water Supply Strategy lays out a plan for longer-term water investments. This is an encouraging first step, although historically there have been competing priorities at play and similar efforts to address these issues have stalled. We are urging Governor and the Legislature to remain focused on executing these initiatives, and to streamline the processes required for planning, permitting, and constructing urgently needed improvements to our water systems.

I’m committed to engaging with state and federal regulators to drive home the importance of expediting access to the governmental funding and grants for our District’s projects that protect and grow our water supplies while maintaining the lowest possible rates.

Secure a “seat at the table” for robust representation of Rancho Water’s priorities as legislative policies are developed and funds are distributed

Too often, our priorities are NOT considered as policymakers craft legislation and regulations that impact us. Being in a position of reacting to their decisions after the fact is not acceptable. Water agencies throughout Southern California are reaching across jurisdictional and political boundaries, collaborating to find common ground. Our urban, commercial, and agricultural water customers are realizing that their goals aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. By joining forces and delivering a united message of advocacy on behalf of our Region, we’ll all reap the benefits which include water resiliency, reliability, and affordability.

Through my leadership roles in organizations such as Southern California Water Coalition (SCWC) and Association of Water Agencies (ACWA), I’ve championed partnerships with other water agencies and industry stakeholders. We are seeing results as we work to make legislators, regulators and other government officials in Sacramento and Washington D.C. aware of our needs, and to influence their decisions so water concerns are addressed.

Prepare for the unexpected through a proactive hazard identification and emergency response program

Rancho Water is highly respected in the water industry as a pioneer of technologies and techniques to maximize efficiency, safety, and a reliable supply of water and wastewater services to our community. Even so, in the role of Board President I have joined a joint agency water resiliency task force dedicated to urging legislative and regulatory actions to address statewide vulnerabilities.

When participants were asked, “What keeps you up at night?”, the list was lengthy: Dire drought conditions, diminishing water and energy supplies, escalating economic and supply chain issues, risk of catastrophic wildfires, earthquakes, aging and/or inadequate infrastructure, and cybersecurity were some of the concerns that topped the list. The goal of the task force is to identify actions we can take to anticipate and prepare to combat potential threats through partnerships with our stakeholders.

Clear-eyed analysis of potential crisis scenarios, development of mitigation goals and objectives, and a roadmap for actions to reduce the impact (if an emergency should arise) will be critical.

Communicate and engage with our Customers and the Community

Water issues can be complex and difficult to navigate. A high priority for the District is to educate and inform the public about online resources, tools, and services available to assist them as they research answers to their questions. With so much technical data, shifting regulations and media noise, sorting through it all can be overwhelming.

It’s important to ensure that Rancho Water’s Community Outreach and Public Information Teams consistently strive to keep current, relevant, and accurate information accessible to the public. Whether one customer simply wants to pay a bill online, while another person would prefer to dig deeper to better understand rate structures and how to use features such as MyWaterTracker and Leak Alert, either option should be available and easy to find.

Communication goes two ways. Encouraging engagement and listening to feedback from our customers helps Rancho provide clear, meaningful, and relatable information that people need and desire so we can consistently serve the community and maintain the highest levels of customer service.