State Comprehensive Water Program Will Be April 7 Forum Topic in San Diego


SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - April 6, 2010) -  All the many aspects of the recently enacted California Comprehensive Water Package will be explained and discussed Wednesday morning, April 7, in San Diego during a special informational and educational water forum. The program is the fourth in a statewide series. It is free of charge to the public and will take place in the Balboa Park Club from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The clubhouse is located in San Diego's Balboa Park near the end of Presidents Lane.

Forum hosts include the California Latino Water Coalition (CLWC), Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and State of California. Local event sponsors are the San Diego County Water Authority and City of San Diego.

The informational forum will explain the comprehensive water package's four policy bills that were enacted along with an $11.14 billion general obligation bond proposal that voters will consider on the November 2010 ballot.

Speaking on various aspects of the potentially far-reaching plan will be San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, Association of California Water Agencies Executive Director Timothy Quinn, California Latino Water Coalition Chairman Paul Rodriguez, and Sue Sims, Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Water Resources.

Also speaking will be Marsi Steirer, Deputy Director, City of San Diego Public Utilities; Meena Westford, Water Policy Manager, San Diego County Water Authority; and Eric Larsen, San Diego County Farm Bureau Executive Director.

A question and answer period will follow the presentations.

CLWC Chairman Rodriguez said, "This program in San Diego is the fourth in a statewide series of water forums intended to provide information and to educate the public on the recently enacted California Comprehensive Water Package. These issues are complicated for the experts, let alone people like me who are trying to understand them. We need all the help and information we can get!"

"The forums were conceived as a means of helping educate Californians about the package's legislative measures on the state's water quality, supply and reliability," said ACWA Vice President Randy Record of San Jacinto in Riverside County, a director of the Eastern Municipal Water District and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "There is no question that the issues addressed in the comprehensive program and which are going to be discussed in San Diego are profoundly important to the future of San Diego County and all of Southern California."

For more information, please call (916) 503-1411.

To RSVP, please call (916) 503-1411 or e-mail Brenda Quintana bquintana@latinowater.com or Jennifer Persike at jenniferp@acwa.com. You may also visit our Web sites, www.latinowater.com or www.acwa.com.

Your advance coverage and day-of-event coverage are welcomed. At the forum, there will be opportunities to interview each of the speakers following the presentations.

Contact Information:

TO LEARN MORE, PLEASE CONTACT:

John Liarakos, San Diego County Water Authority, (858) 522-6703
Brenda Quintana, California Latino Water Coalition, (916) 503-1411
Jennifer Persike, Association of California Water Agencies, (916) 441-4545