ACWA Conference to Analyze Key Water Issues

The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) will host its Spring Conference, titled "Financing Our Water Future: An Issue of Dollars and Sense," Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, May 7-9, 2003, in South Lake Tahoe.

On the agenda this year are programs that will take an in-depth look at the status of the California state budget crisis and its affect on water agency utilities, the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, the Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement, desalination, water storage, water rights, agricultural return flows, the future of California agriculture and more.

The program "tracks" are attorneys, finance, human resources and small agencies. The more than one dozen sessions being offered will be categorized under these tracks to assist attendees in determining which sessions would best fit their needs.

Here are some conference highlights.

-- Keynote speech by Assemblymember Joseph Canciamilla (D- Pittsburg)

-- Keynote speech by Ted Gibson, former economist for the state of California

-- "The Future of California Agriculture: Assessing the Economic, Environmental and Water Supply Implications"

-- "Colorado River 4.4 Plan: Do We Need a Transfer?"

ACWA also will be presenting its prestigious Clair A. Hill Water Agency Award. The award seeks to recognize the member agencies that have developed innovative ways to deal with water

Prior to the three-day conference, ACWA will host a directors' workshop that will focus on leadership skills. Topics such as district finance, directors' roles and responsibilities, dealing with the media and appropriate management performance will be discussed.

ACWA is a statewide association whose 440 members are responsible for approximately 90 percent of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwanet.com.

Source: Association of California Water Agencies