SOURCE INTERVIEW
fact, more than 90% of violations are from systems with fewer
than 500 connections.
The old approach largely waited for failed, or soon-to-fail,
water systems to develop treatment projects and then apply for
capital construction funding, with no support for operations and
maintenance. That model was unjust for communities without the
resources to steward a project from inception through construction, or
to maintain after it is built. The SAFER program emphasizes creating a
pipeline between communities and the resources that then drive long-term
water solutions. We are no longer simply waiting for systems to
fail and are now expanding to incorporate the needs of at-risk systems
that might fail without early intervention into the program.
SOURCE: We’ve heard you are enough of a techie that you’ve
coded your own home utilities programs. How do you see open
data initiatives and better use of technology positively shifting
how the Water Board does its work and accomplishes its goals?
ESQUIVEL: Becoming a 21st century regulatory agency is paramount
for the State Water Board to accomplish its mission. The water sector
cannot afford to ignore advancements in remote sensing, data systems,
analytics and machine learning for managing our water resources. The
energy, financial and transportation sectors have incorporated, to great
efficiency, many of the basic systems that we lack in the water sector.
Thankfully, that is quickly changing. Organizations like the
Environmental Defense Fund, the Nature Conservancy and the
California Water Data Consortium are helping to usher in a new
32 SOURCE spring 2021
era of decision support tools that are innovative, open source and
synthesize the best of public and private thought leaders to modernize
water management and decision-making. One of the most promising
projects in the space is OpenET, and I encourage folks to check it out.
SOURCE: What is the most valuable lesson you learned so far as
Water Board chair?
ESQUIVEL: That we must preserve the public’s trust. I think it
comes as no surprise to most of us that we are living in a time when
trust in our government institutions is lacking. Yet, as the climate
crisis requires us to be better organized and become better decision-makers,
that lack of trust erodes our capacity to bring consensus and
action to our most pressing water challenges.
The last 200 years of human history have wrought incredible
changes to the way water flows, is managed and ultimately supports
our society. What the next 100 to 200 years will bring and how we
will usher our communities into the future, especially as it pertains
to managing our water, are critically important considerations. The
Water Board and our nine regional boards, like all our government
institutions, are here to facilitate, not dictate, that vision. I strongly
believe that our Board’s mission must first and foremost be guided
by our communities themselves and focused on facilitating public
involvement, trust and transparency in our decision making if we
are to be successful together. S
Lynn Lipinski is the editor of SOURCE.
/nationalstoragetank.com
