Keeping Conservation a California Way of Life
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To help Southern Californians keep conserving - rain or shine, Metropolitan and its member agencies offer many conservation and rebate programs. These water-saving initiatives and the H2Love advertising campaign have been honored by several national and regional organizations for helping to promote environmental sustainability.
Just how popular are these programs? A recent
update
to Met's Board reported that $49 million in conservation expenditures have been paid during the current two-year biennial budget cycle. And a snapshot of just one month - January 2018 - showed rebates for:
- 4,563 toilets and 101 urinals
- 115,000 square feet of turf removed
- 1,075 smart controllers for landscape irrigation
- 1,481 high- efficiency clothes washers
- 463 rain barrels and cisterns
The lifetime water savings from just these January rebates is estimated at 3,532 acre-feet. One acre-foot of water serves about 2-3 homes for a year, so these changes will result in big and lasting savings for years to come.
This spring, the Board will be asked to vote on enhancements to the existing conservation programs. These may include new landscape transformation programs, professional landscape training, expanded support for member agencies, and higher rebates for some indoor and outdoor devices. For info about current rebates visit bewaterwise.com.
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Finding and Sharing Pieces of our History
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Recently. Metropolitan received a one-of-a-kind flag and with it, another glimpse into the history and legacy of the organization.
A conscientious California resident, Nan Wojcik, inherited this treasure when her mother died. Now wanting to return it to its original agency, Ms. Wojcik called Metropolitan’s Board Administrator,
Rosa Castro,
who passed the message along to Metropolitan’s archivist,
David Keller
.
After some discussion, the flag was sent to Metropolitan along with the story of its history and importance. Mrs. Wojcik and her sister Susan Paff shared that their father, Forest Emerson Wreede, worked for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for 35 years as a line repairman and transformer elect-rician.
For several years in the 1930s, Forest worked on projects related to the construction of Boulder (Hoover) Dam. The daughters' best guess for how the flag came into the family’s possession is that someone from Metropolitan gave it to their father in appreciation for his good work. The family also donated a sterling silver medallion of the Metropolitan seal
(photo below)
which seems to share the same lineage as the flag.
Metropolitan welcomes historical donations and is now in the process of further researching the flag and medallion and where to display these important pieces of Metropolitan history.
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Keeping it Reel in Washington, DC
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If you want to know about fishing in or around the Chesapeake Bay, then
Kristen Haskett
is a good person to ask. She and her boyfriend own a 23’ Grady-White fishing boat and spend much of their free time in the Bay or Atlantic Ocean where they catch rockfish, blue fish, Spanish mackerel and other fish, depending on the season. “I love the beach and being out on our boat,” says
Kristen
.
On land,
Kristen
works in Metropolitan's office in Washington, D.C., a position she has held for 12 years.
When Metropolitan staff, directors or member agencies visit the nation’s capital,
Kristen
helps to arrange
meetings with members of Congress and federal administration officials, and
organizes many of the briefing documents, policy papers, and other materials.
She also coordinates review of proposed federal legislation and responds to requests for information about Metropolitan programs and projects.
Kristen
previously worked for a lobbying firm run by Metropolitan's former General Counsel Bob Will. “There, I learned a lot about the district so when the opportunity came up to work directly for Met, it was a natural step for me to put my knowledge of federal legislation and water issues to work.”
Kristen
likes to read, spend time with her 10-year old boxer-bulldog mix, Bella, and
build architectural models
of famous buildings. S
ome of her works are on display in the Washington, D.C. office, including models of the U.S. Capitol, White House, Lincoln Memorial, Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater house, and the Empire State Building.
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