WRD's "Capitol Report Today" Featuring Representative Linda Sanchez

LAKEWOOD, Calif., Aug. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Local leaders and community stakeholders packed the Water Replenishment District of Southern California's (WRD) headquarters for its first "Capitol Report Today" session. Representative Linda Sanchez (D-39), ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, and member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and Judiciary Committee, provided local officials with updates on federal activities, as well as legislation designed to help address the state's water challenges.

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WRD Board President Sergio Calderon and WRD Board Director Lillian Kawasaki kicked off the event by highlighting the state's significant water supply challenges and how WRD is working to address them.

Director Kawasaki, representing Division Three which mostly lies in the 39th Congressional District, provided the public with an overview of WRD's innovative water reuse and replenishment programs, highlighting the nationally-recognized Water Independence Now (WIN) program and the Groundwater Reliability Improvement Program (GRIP).

WIN is a suite of programs that aim to eliminate the District's reliance on imported water for replenishing the area's groundwater supplies through the development of locally sustainable water sources. This will enhance water reliability, affordability and generate local job opportunities.

"Fortunately, the greater Los Angeles area is home to several innovative programs in water reuse and replenishment," said Sanchez (D-39). "Programs like WRD's Water Independence Now (WIN) and Groundwater Reliability Improvement Program (GRIP) hold the promise of 'drought proofing' the region while contributing to long-term statewide solutions."

"The District has long believed that a large part of the solution to the state's persistent water challenges exists in the development of local supplies in the form of increased stormwater capture and recycled water use," Kawasaki said. "The fact that Representative Sanchez helped secure federal funds to study the Los Angeles Basin Watershed is evidence to her commitment to water matters in Congress."

"Over 10 percent of the state's population relies on WRD to replenish and manage the groundwater basins," said Calderon. "WRD continues to develop innovative water projects that will ensure that south Los Angeles County has a reliable source of local water supply as the future of imported water becomes less certain."

The Water Replenishment District of Southern California is the regional groundwater management agency that protects and preserves the quantity and quality of groundwater for two of the most utilized basins in the State of California, with a service area that is home to over ten percent of California's population residing in 43 cities in southern Los Angeles County with a publicly elected Board of Directors including Willard H. Murray, Jr., Robert Katherman, Lillian Kawasaki, Sergio Calderon, and Albert Robles.

For more information about the Water Replenishment District please visit www.wrd.org.

SOURCE Water Replenishment District of Southern California