2019: A Year of Records for Metropolitan
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2019 was a banner year for Metropolitan – one that demonstrated the flexibility of our water delivery system. Water Operations and Planning Section Manager
Keith Nobriga
recapped the year in a
presentation
to the Engineering and Operations Committee.
January 2019 started off dry in Northern California. The State Water Project allocation was set at just 10%. And the Colorado River Basin Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) had not yet been finalized. Without it, Met was uncertain it could withdraw its stored water from Lake Mead during a drought - so Colorado River deliveries were maximized on a six-pump flow.
But things quickly changed with a very wet spring and the signing of the DCP.
“That set up a different operation, basically the exact opposite,” of where the year started,
Keith
told the committee. “We were delivering almost all State Water Project water, and minimizing Colorado River Water. This illustrates the flexibility of our system and how we adapt to drought or surplus to work with the water supplies coming our way.”
That quick response led to Met breaking records including:
- Dry-year storage reserves at 3.1 million acre-feet
- Lowest net Colorado River diversions since 1956
- Most storage ever in Lake Mead storage acco
unt - nearly 1 million acre-feet
“We’re in one of the best reliability positions we’ve ever been in thanks to a lot of support, planning and cooperation working with member agencies,”
Keith
said.
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HQ Seismic Upgrade: It Takes a Village to Move
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Last week, the Human Resources Group completed its move to temporary offices in the 2nd floor wing, while its regular space undergoes work over the next few months as part of the HQ Seismic Retrofit.
In preparing for the move, HR staff paired up and spent several weeks packing up boxes, throwing out lots of old stuff, and uncovering interesting 'artifacts' along the way which will soon be on display. (Hint: the 1980s are calling and they want their microfiche reader back). It all went off without a hitch, with the help of several key people including:
- Omar Rosado and Xiomara Funez (Facilities) made sure lots of big trash cans were available, and regularly emptied.
- Ron Shute (Records) supplied plenty of shredding bins.
- Julia Mewbourne and Liz Campos (Records) helped out with our File Room, by scanning critical personnel documents and storing hard copies offsite.
- Ashley Lopez (Facilities), Zorinan Kasilag (IT), Sandy Tran (Ops Safety), Arman Motavvef (Engineering), and Isamar Munoz (HR) were also invaluable in preparing our new offices, moving computers and furniture, and showing us where to go so staff could get to work without missing a beat.
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Come visit HR this Thursday, February 6 at 9:00 am when they host an Open House in their new location.
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A Steward of our Past Treasures and Rich History
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On your next visit to the Getty Center, check out the museum’s installation on the eponymous businessman to view some of Metropolitan archivist
Sara Seltzer
’s work.
Sara
, a Senior Administrative Analyst with Records Management and Imaging Services, worked at the Getty prior to joining Metropolitan in July. There, she sifted through old art logs, photographs and J. Paul Getty’s personal letters to help museum curators tell the history of the oil baron. Their efforts resulted in a digital interactive exhibit that visitors can explore.
Now at Metropolitan,
Sara
is developing the district’s archival program and provides guidance as a subject matter expert in records management. As an archivist, Sara preserves and protects the historical materials that Metropolitan employees find in file cabinets and closets. Recently, she received a box of records for a Metropolitan women’s association dating back to the 1970s.
Sara
, who studied history and art history at UC Riverside, was inspired to go into archiving after visiting the British Library during a London study abroad program. She would later go on to earn a Masters of Library and Information Science with a specialization in Archival Studies from UCLA. Sara has also worked for UC Riverside, UC Irvine and History Associates Inc.
Sara
recently returned from an employee inspection trip of the Colorado River Aqueduct (the photo above was taken at Copper Basin) where she saw first-hand the places and facilities documented in Metropolitan’s archival materials. “It made it very real to get to visit the aqueduct,” she said. “The scale is awe inspiring.”
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