First in a series.
If you will forgive the metaphor, Scott Houston did not have an opportunity to get either foot wet last autumn before the historic drought consumed his introduction as a new member of the West Basin Municipal Water Board, a mystery agency to many.
One of Mr. Houston’s early lessons at West Basin – where the late Ed Little represented the Culver City area for decades – was that the board’s sense of independence has been narrowed by the drought streak.
“We don’t have a lot of choice,” he said, “because of (restrictions) the governor has proposed and how that direction comes down to us through the state Water Board. I am supportive, obviously, of the governor’s efforts to conserve water across our state. And our board is united in this thinking.
“We know what we can control and what we need to do to meet the mandate that has been put on us.”
Creeping awareness of the drought has come more slowly to the urban centers of Southern California than it did in Northern California, where water dependency is more prominent in their everyday lives.
Mr. Houston was asked about West Basin’s prime responsibility, whether to follow direction from Sacramento or seize an initiative on the distribution of water.
“Both,” he said. “It is two-fold.
“We are responsible for running the agency, for giving it vision and direction regarding what we view as the needs locally.
“Water recycling is a big part of what we do because that is something we can control within our own jurisdiction. We already have the plant built, and we are able to continue building on capacity and customer base, making sure the water quality we are providing meets the needs of our customers.
“Finally,” Mr. Houston said, “West Basin is in a relatively good place compared to other water districts. We are dependent on imported water at a rate of 60 to 65 percent. So we are not as heavily dependent on (Metropolitan Water District) water as other agencies are since we have the water recycling plant in our district. We really have pushed hard on conservation and education throughout the district.”
(To be continued)