Local Water Conference Hopes To Solve State’s Drought Problem

Water: it’s our most valuable resource. In February, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency to combat California’s third consecutive year of drought.

“It’s about water treatment, water quality. People are concerned about where their water is coming from, whether it’s clean water, dirty water sources,” says David Greenwood with the California Water Environment Association.

Now, the California Water EnvironmentAssociation is hosting its annual conference at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The C.W.E.A. is a non-profit group of more than 8,000 professionals in the industry committed to keeping California’s water supply clean. The event is host to technical training sessions, committee meetings and workshops to show how to do more with less. The event’s theme is “train to succeed.”

“We’re looking at returning and speeding up the water cycle. Everybody knows water comes from rain and gets contaminated. We remove those contaminants and, hopefully, make that water available as a resource,” says Greenwood.

“The Palm Springs mayor [Steve Pougnet] was here earlier today and he talked about his program and the advances the Coachella Valley has made in recycling waste water. That water is cleaned and then used for golf courses, irrigation and it has a small amount of nutrients so it reduces the amount of fertilizer that golf courses have to use,” says Greenwood.

The conference runs until the end of the week. More than 1,500 people are expected to attend.