Grants Pass, OR (PRWEB) August 24, 2017
Date aired: July 31, 2017 and April 10, 2017
Guest: Mike Markus, General Manager, Orange County Water District in California
http://www.ocwd.com
After three well-documented years of merciless drought conditions, people all over the Golden State are breathing sighs of relief. With increased rainfall and melting of record snowpack, most state areas affected by drought have experienced great relief, so much so that drought designations are being removed from locales throughout the state.
Water advocate Sharon Kleyne, host of the nationally syndicated The Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water, Global Climate Change and Your Health on VoiceAmerica, sponsored by Nature’s Tears® EyeMist®, recently welcomed special guest Mike Marcus, General Manager (since 2007) of the Orange County Water District, to discuss the drought situation in California.
Markus, a Hollywood native who grew up in Orange County, shared with Kleyne and her audience that the Water District he manages replenishes and protects the Orange County Groundwater Basin, which is the county’s largest source of drinking water. The basin—270 square miles in size—delivers approximately 75% of the water supply to 2.4 million residents in north and central Orange County. Markus emphasized that his district does a great job educating people about where their water comes from. Marcus is especially proud of one outreach program, the Children’s Water Education Festival, which is a highly successful two-day event attracting thousands of people to talks and interactive displays.
Sharon Kleyne, founder of Bio-Logic Aqua® Research Water Life Science®, also encourages listeners and other interested parties to become better educated about water and their own health. “Too many people are ignorant of the facts about water, evaporation and the atmosphere,” says Kleyne. “Then they get dismissive. They say ‘oh, it’s only water’. Well, you might just as well say, ‘it’s only life’. Believe me,” said Kleyne, “we have run out of wiggle room on this issue. If the global water crisis gets much worse, we’ll have to contend with billions of people whose health will have suffered because they’re dehydrated due to excessive evaporation of their water body vapor. At the same time,” Kleyne added, “over-evaporation of earth’s water vapor will severely compromise the air we breathe.”
Kleyne praised Markus and his Orange County Water District for keeping drinking water safe for millions of people, for doing so much to expand education opportunities in water and developing new technology for smarter water use.
Markus shared that the Orange County District has come to rely more and more on recycled water, specifically waste water that is, after an advanced filtration process, converted into distilled water. Orange County’s is the first facility to use reverse osmosis in this process. “People have a right to clean, healthy water,” Markus concluded. “We have the technology and we have the experience. Now we need the commitment from elected officials to invest in water and water education for everybody.”