Thank you for inviting me to your Annual Meeting. Once again, your agenda is timely, interesting and full of promise. The Water Committee is one of the several industry-specific standing committees within the larger organization. The Committee consists of approximately 20 Commissioners.
All associations trade information about the critical issues facing members.
The first group of issues critical to water regulation arise from the implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments. We in California are following the national pattern the head of our water division, Dean Evans, now has monthly meetings with his counterpart at the Department of Health Services. A second area critical for regulation is the need for massive investment in the water infrastructure. Future s Forum has helped us to learn of the staggering amounts of infrastructure investment that the water industry requires. The problem is particularly difficult because 90 percent of the 55,000 community drinking water systems serve less than 500 people.