Southland residents who want to give their two cents about how to manage the area’s water supply over the next 25 years will have a chance Thursday when the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California holds a public workshop on the region’s conservation and water-use plans.
The workshop is being held as part of MWD’s efforts to update its Integrated Water Resources Plan, known as Water Tomorrow. The plan outlines ways to achieve long-term water supply reliability through a variety of steps — including importing water from the State Water Project and Colorado River, conservation efforts, groundwater storage, stormwater recharge, recycled water and desalination.
The workshop will also introduce the “Water Tomorrow Innovation Game,” which MWD officials bill as a chance for the public to submit innovations and ideas in a variety of categories, such as conservation, sustaining groundwater and building local water resources.
A group of water professionals will select the top three promising innovations in an Expert’s Choice category. The top 20 idea collaborators, as chosen by all game participants, will be eligible for a Community Choice award.
“California has long been a leader in innovation with ideas that change the world,” MWD General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said. “We think Water Tomorrow and the Water Tomorrow Innovation Game can be idea accelerators that put us on a sustainable path to meet our water challenges.”
The workshop will last until 3:30 p.m. and will be live-streamed at http://bit.ly/1LaRTYD. Registration for the Innovation Game is available online at http://bit.ly/1MzjfWa.
—City News Service