Student art goes on tour
A show featuring 26 pieces of student artwork used in Metropolitan's 2001 "Water is Life" wall calendar hit the road in February to take the message of water conservation off the artists' pallet and into the community.

"A Glass Half Full: Children's Perspectives on Water" first debuted in Metropolitan's Union Station rotunda in November. Now the exhibit is traveling to 10 Southland agencies which will each display the framed artwork for a week at a time.

Metropolitan has sponsored the annual poster contest since 1989. But this was the first year that the winning entries were included in an art show.

"We know that there is tremendous strength behind a message interpreted by a student's artistic hand," said Russ Donnelly, Metropolitan's manager of education services. "It adds such an important visual component to Metropolitan's outreach efforts."

Nearly 200 students in grades K-8 submitted watercolor, crayon or poster-paint works to member and retail agencies during last May's Water Awareness Month activities. Deadline for this year's contest is June 30, 2001.

Since its downtown Los Angeles debut, the exhibit has visited Helix Water District, City of Anaheim, Cucamonga County Water District in Rancho Cucamonga and Rancho California Water District in Temecula. It will travel to the following local water agencies in coming weeks:

Information about the contests is available at each of Metropolitan's 26 member agencies, or by calling Aurilla Maas at (213) 217-6738.

Whitman revokes new arsenic standards
EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman announced March 20 that the agency would completely re-evaluate the arsenic rule that would have significantly reduced the amount of arsenic in the nation's drinking water.

In January, the EPA issued a rule for arsenic in drinking water, which called for bold reduction in arsenic levels from 50 parts per billion (ppb) down to 10 ppb.

In speaking to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies' (AMWA) Washington Conference, Whitman acknowledged that the arsenic levels allowed under current regulations are too high. But she questioned the science behind the rule. Citing the health benefits research and cost compliance problems associated with the arsenic rule handed down under the Clinton administration, Whitman announced that the agency would completely re-evaluate the arsenic.

Arsenic occurs naturally in rocks, soil, water, air, plants and animals. It is also used in paints, dyes, metals, drugs, soaps and semiconductors. Long-term exposure to low concentrations of arsenic in drinking water can lead to skin, bladder, lung and prostate cancer. Other health risks at low levels include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, along with developmental, immunological and neurological effects.

If the final rule became federal law, California and other states would have the option of adopting the 10 ppb standard, or a lower one, according to Edgar G. Dymally, senior environmental specialist with Metropolitan's Water Quality Section.

The landmark ruling could affect water utilities nationwide, as water systems are required to comply with the federal rules within three years. In California, more than 1,100 water systems could be effected by the regulations and be required to spend millions of dollars to remove arsenic through the treatment process, officials say.

The ruling will have little or no effect on Metropolitan's supplies, however, because the sources of that water—the State Water Project and the Colorado River—have very low concentrations of arsenic.

"We will be able to meet the proposed standard," Dymally said.

Metropolitan board restructured
With the new year came the Legislature's mandate for a more streamlined board of directors. Beginning with its January meeting, Metropolitan's board downsized to 37 members from 51. The formula still calls for each member agency to retain at least one representative, but additional members are only added for each full 5 percent of the agency's assessed valuation of property within Metropolitan.

The city of Los Angeles lost three directors, S. David Freeman, Larry Kosmont and Katherine W. Moret; the San Diego County Water Authority lost two directors, Gordon W. Tinker and James F. Turner; the Municipal Water District of Orange County lost two directors, Ed Royce Sr. and Kenneth H. Witt, but gained director Langdon W. Owen through the merger of Coastal Municipal Water District and MWDOC. Other agencies losing directors include Calleguas Municipal Water District's Jeffrey A. Borenstein; Central Basin Municipal Water District's Charles M. Treviño; Wayne T. McMurray of Coastal; Inland Empire Utilities District's Gene Koopman; Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District's Frank F. Forbes; West Basin Municipal Water District's Charles D. Barker; and Western Municipal Water District of Riverside County's Lois B. Krieger.

In addition to trimming the number of directors, Metropolitan's board also changed the makeup of its committee structure by dissolving 18 committees, sub-committees and task forces and transferring their duties to the board's remaining six standing committees.