Irvine Ranch Water District Board Names President, Vice President for 2014
The Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors at its annual organizational meeting December 17 selected Steven E. LaMar to serve as President and Peer Swan to serve as Vice President for 2014.
“I’m looking forward to an exciting 2014,” LaMar said. “We have a lot of things going on.”
LaMar was appointed to the IRWD Board of Directors in February 2009 to fill a board vacancy and was elected to a four-year term in 2010. He served as Board Vice President for 2013 and previously served as Board President in 2011. LaMar currently serves on the Finance and Personnel Committe and the Water Resources and Policy Committee as well as various Ad Hoc Commitees.
LaMar is a water policy and planning expert with more than 20 years of experience on statewide business and industry committees and has directly participated in many major water policy forums. He has served on statewide task forces and advisory committees on drought planning, desalination, the California Bay-Delta, the California Water Plan and on water reliability and conservation issues. LaMar is president and owner of LegiSight, LLC, located in Tustin, CA, and is also a principal for Spinner LaMar Associates since 1993. He has served as a water policy leader in the California Building Industry Association for 20 years.
LaMar has extensive water policy service. He was a member of the California Water Plan 2009 Advisory Committee and a member of the Delta Vision Stakeholders Coordination Group. He was Chair of the Economic Work Group for the 2006 California Landscape Task Force. He served as member of the 2005 State Water Desalination Task Force, the 2000 Governor's Advisory Drought Planning Panel and Chair of the California Building Industry Association's statewide Water Resources Subcommittee and Task Force.
LaMar has been honored for achievements and was the recipient of the 2001 Ernest Hahn Achievement Award from the California Business Properties Association, and the Building Industry Association of Southern California's Gary Anderson Memorial Award. LaMar holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Pittsburg State University and a certificate from the Environmental Management Institute, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency environmental training program administered by the University of Southern California. He and his wife, Jeanne, live in Northwood in Irvine.
Swan was elected to the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors in 1979. After a term as Vice President of the Board, the Directors elected him President, a position he held from December 1981 until December 1995 and again during 2006. Swan currently serves as chairman of the Finance and Personnel Committee and the Water Banking Committee and serves on other standing and ad hoc committees.
Contact: Shannon Reed, Public Affairs Manager
reeds@irwd.com, (949) 453-5500
Don’t Miss Out on the Children’s Water Education Festival
Organizers continue to take reservations for the 2014 Children’s Water Education Festival, scheduled for March 26 and 27 at UC Irvine’s Alderich Park. Teachers of third through fifth grade students within the Irvine Ranch Water District service area are encouraged to register for the event.
The Festival presents a unique opportunity to educate students about local water issues and help them understand how they can protect water supplies and their environment. Since its inception 18 years ago more than 100,000 children from schools throughout Orange County have been able to experience the Festival and all it has to offer.
Last year's festival hosted students from nearly 72 public, private and home schools from 20 Orange County cities. More than 65 organizations devoted their time and resources to assist in educating budding young environmental stewards. A total of 782 students from the IRWD service area attended the two-day event in 2013.
The Festival is provided at no cost to Orange County schools. Third through fifth grade teachers and students are invited to attend. Information is available by calling (714) 378-3257, or at info@childrenwaterfestival.com.
Contact: Shannon Reed, Public Affairs Manager
reeds@irwd.com, (949) 453-5500
Rain Doesn’t Stop Shadetree Volunteers
Threats of rain, and later, a storm, didn’t dampen the spirit of 95 volunteers who turned out to plant, prune and weed the stock at the Shadetree Partnership nursery on December 7.
“We had a great day with intermittent sprinkles and then at 10:30, a nice rain,” said Shadetree coordinator Leslie Bonkowski.
Ninety-Five hardy volunteers rolled up their sleeves to do whatever work was assigned to them. The groups were from University High School, three chapters of the National Charity League, Woodbridge High School’s Eco-Warriors, San Clemente Tree Foundation, Irvine Youth Action Team, the Pacific Academy, Omega Chi Epsilon and various Scout troops.
In addition, an Adopt-a-Row plaque was unveiled. The volunteers replanted 661 trees, shrubs and groundcover into larger containers in the greenhouses. They also added identification tags to the stock and raked leaves from the rows of trees.
Shadetree Partnership holds monthly events at its nursery, located on the UC Irvine campus. The next event is scheduled for January 11. Anyone needing volunteer or service hours is always welcome. Each volunteer receives a Certificate of Participation.
More information is available at the IRWD website.
Get Cash Back on Holiday Gifts
The Black Friday sales have come and gone, but many of us continue to ponder holiday gift giving. If you plan to give or receive a new clothes washer as a gift this holiday season – get a little cash back as well.
High efficiency clothes washers use 55 percent less water than standard washers, saving about 75,000 gallons of water over its lifetime. Using less water also means lower energy used on water heating. Save water, save energy and enjoy the money savings on your utility bills year-round with this IRWD rebate.
Irvine Ranch Water District offers rebates to customers who replace their old clothes washers with the newer water-saving models – up to $285! Before purchasing the washer, check out the list of pre-approved models at www.irwd.com/save-water-money/rebates.
IRWD also offers rebates on weather-based irrigations controllers, rotating spray nozzles, high efficiency toilets, rain barrels and soil moisture sensors.
Stick Those Stickers in the Trash
We’ve all had to deal with them – those little stickers on an apple or tomato that are stubborn to remove. Often, they wind up down the drain, eventually ending up at the wastewater treatment plant. At Irvine Ranch Water District, we advise our customers to be careful of what they put down the drain, or flush down the toilet.
Plastics don’t break down in the biological processes used at the Michelson Water Recycling Plant and the Los Alisos Water Recycling Plant. Fruit and vegetable sticks are plastic and can clog private sewer laterals. As they travel through the sewer system, they do no deteriorate and clog equipment at the Michelson facility.
When you rinse your produce, put these stickers directly into the trash, not the garbage disposal. Together, we can all help keep our systems flowing smoothly.
More information about IRWD sewer service is available on our website.
