April 2014: Lobbying a Success for Lake Success
Editor's Note: Each month a member of the Board of Supervisors will be featured and deliver a personal note. This message is provided by District 5 Supervisor Mike Ennis.
As a business man, I know that face-to-face meetings cannot be replaced by a social media message, email or a simple phone call. In my experience, things get done quicker; you can build a personal relationship; and misunderstandings are less likely to happen when you meet in person.
Three members of the Board of Supervisors, key County staff, and I used this philosophy when we travelled to Washington, D.C. from April 8 -10 to discuss important County issues.
In our three-day visit, we met with lawmakers and their staff to lobby for issues that ranged from more funding for marijuana eradication to emergency drought relief for farmers. One of my main goals was to ensure that progress be made on a project that would increase the water storage capacity of Lake Success. I am proud to say I reached my goal.
Background
Lake Success is supposed to hold up to 82,291 acre-feet of water. A project to increase its storage to 110,000 acre feet broke ground in June 2003. Since that groundbreaking, limited progress has been made on the project, and, during some years such as 2008, Lake Success’ approved storage capacity had been diminished to 29,200 acre feet. The main reason has been delays issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers due to questions surrounding seismic concerns, or how the dam would hold up in the event of an earthquake. Federal agencies have initiated studies for this issue, but the research has been delayed and remains incomplete. That means the project cannot start and the water storage capacity remains low.
Having Lake Success working at least full capacity is important for a variety of reasons. First, it holds water for farmers. Second, when full, Lake Success is a huge economic engine for the region.
Lobbying for Storage Capacity with Success
In meetings with officials from the United State Army Corps of Engineers, the Senate and House Appropriations Committees and the offices of Congressman David Valadao, and Senator Barbara Boxer, I asked that no additional delays be made in the report or study process and that the Federal government move forward on the construction project to increase storage capacity to 110,000 acre feet.
During our April 10 meetings, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff committed to providing a letter authorizing the full storage capacity of Lake Success. On April 14, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers raised the authorized storage capacity back to 82,291 acre feet. Ultimately, this could mean more water for local users, such as farmers, during high-water months!