Item 22 - Consumer Confidence Report and Auxiliary Services

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ONMI11.112 ? RELEVANT ri EXPERIENCE CASE STUDY Groundwater Replenishment System A PirrF. Solulian to Orange COUg19 S Water Nerds The most effective crisis communications case study we have developed and implemented was the Orange County Water District (OCWD) and Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS). GWRS purifies sewer water through a four -step, multi -year process. This purified water then gets pumped to the Anaheim lakes where it percolates into the groundwater to be reused as drinking water. Known as "Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR)," this water recycling process was attempted both in Los Angeles and San Diego and failed due to the lack of public acceptance. Tagged with the moniker "toilet to tap", it was rejected by both the public and then the elected officials. For Orange County, communications LAB developed a strategy of intensive community outreach and public education prior to moving forward with the public regulatory process. We developed an extensive crisis communications plan for this project. Our primary goal, however, was to inoculate ourselves from opposition and we brought in scientists, university professors, doctors, nurses, water chemists and engineers, all of whom lauded our efforts and ensured the public of its safety. We held multiple editorial board meetings with several newspapers including the Orange County Register, Daily Pilot, Huntington Beach Independent and LA Times. When it was approved by both the OCWD and OCSD Boards there was no organized opposition to the project. It was built and operates successfully to this day. McCarthy was the contractor selected to build the facility. In fact, it is going through its another water recycling expansion now. It is true that this project was approved and built prior to social media becoming more ubiquitous. The strategy may be different today, but we are confident the results would be the same. It took hard work and lots of shoe leather visiting every service club, gardening club and mom's group in north and central Orange County, but our speakers bureau — which covered hundreds of groups and organizations — was the key to our success and built a reservoir of goodwill and respect that allowed the project to be built with hundreds of people cheering at the ground breaking and no opponents.