[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 3/19/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

March 19, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

Santa Rosa's Dean named to water board; City Council term expires in November; promised not to seek re-election

Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 3/19/08

By Mike McCoy, staff writer

 

In July, Carol Dean interviewed to fill vacancies on both the Santa Rosa City Council and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Just a day after she was interviewed by the Santa Rosa council, she was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Councilman Mike Martini.

But Friday, eight months after the last of three interviews with state officials, Dean got an unexpected call from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office telling her the governor had appointed her to the North Coast board.

"It was a long, arduous process," Dean said Tuesday, noting she first applied for the position in August 2006.

The North Coast board, one of nine statewide, is charged with protecting the waterways -- lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and creeks -- in an area that spans 22,000 square miles in six Northern California counties. Its jurisdiction includes the 1,485-square-mile Russian River watershed.

Dean served on Santa Rosa's Board of Public Utilities from February 2003 until her appointment to the council. The board oversees the city's water and regional sewage treatment operations.

The 62-year-old Dean said being a Democrat "evidently wasn't an issue" with the Republican governor. She said she will officially take her seat after orientation next month. Her appointment is subject to Senate confirmation, usually a routine process.

Dean, a legal secretary and former president of the West End Neighborhood Association, said she plans to serve the full four-year term.

Her council term is set to expire in November. Dean, when appointed, promised she would not seek re-election.

Water board members are paid $100 per meeting.

Dean said she expects the biggest issue the regional board will face during her tenure will be allocating water among competing interests and developing the infrastructure to deliver it. She said another major challenge will be to find ways to put treated wastewater, like Santa Rosa's, to a wider, more productive use.

While a member of Santa Rosa's council, Dean generally will be precluded from voting on water board issues that deal specifically with the city, the city attorney's office said. #

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080319/NEWS/803190425/1033/NEWS&template=kart

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