Two CWA Members participate in NARUC Summer Policy Summit in San Diego

Martin Kropelnicki, California Water Service (CWS) president and chief executive officer, and Richard Svindland, California American Water (CAW) president were participants in separate panels at the 2017 National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC) Summer Policy Summit in San Diego. Both panels focused on water infrastructure investment in the utility industry.

Kropelnicki served on the panel entitled, “Infrastructure: It’s All About the Benjamin$,” moderated by Commissioner Ann Rendahl of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. Part of the discussion focused on the report card issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) every four years regarding the physical condition and needed investments for improvement. Greg DiLoreto, ASCE past president and current chair of the ASCE Committee on America’s Infrastructure, explained how the report card was developed, how the infrastructure grades were assigned and what the cost of failing to invest in infrastructure now really means.

The national grades were presented and painted a sobering assessment: the overall grade for infrastructure generally is a D+. Grades for specific utility sectors were no better: energy – D+; drinking water – D; wastewater – D+.

Kropelnicki presented several metrics from CWS’s report card, which included basic distribution service, water quality investment, water supply investment and customer interface. He made a compelling case for his company’s grades, which ranged from A- to C+. Kropelnicki also noted how the regulated investor-owned drinking water utilities in California compare favorably with their government-owned utility counterparts and the national average when it comes to consistent investment in important water utility infrastructure.

Joining Kropelnicki on the panel were The Honorable Rendahl, DiLoreto of the ASCE and Phillip Moeller, senior vice president, Edison Electric Institute.

Svindland anchored the “Desalination as a Water Source” panel at the summit and was joined by Commissioner Comer H. “Randy” Randall, South Carolina Public Service Commission, and Bob Yamada, director of Water Resources, San Diego County Water Authority. He provided an update on the progress of CAW’s Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project. Anticipated for completion by 2020, it will include a desalination plant, slant intake wells and related pipelines and facilities. Upon completion, the desalination plant is expected to provide 40 percent of the community’s water needs, or approximately 6,250 acre-feet per year (af/y)

The supply project is also slated for groundwater replenishment of 22 percent, or 3,500 af/y, while the aquifer storage and recovery project is expected to contribute 1,300 af/y, or 8 percent. The Monterey Peninsula has previously relied on the Carmel River for approximately three-quarters of its water needs. When the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project is completed it will reduce the community’s reliance on the Carmel River by almost 70 percent.

Key benefits of the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project presented by Svindland include: restoring the Carmel River to productive flows; minimizing ocean life impacts through the slant well technology with its associated subsurface intakes; seeking green energy sources to power the desalination plant and reduce the project’s carbon footprint; and, replenishing the Seaside Groundwater Basin.

Design and permitting activities for the $300-million-plus Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project are anticipated for completion by the second half of 2018, with construction to begin in the second or third quarter of 2018. If the remainder of the work proceeds on schedule, the projected commercial operation will be the first quarter of 2020.

Svindland also appeared before NARUC Committee on Water, which was meeting jointly with the Task Force on Innovation, while in San Diego.