Infrastructure: Plan Would Streamline Agency Oversight
As the city looks to streamline government, one councilman is looking at creating a new committee that would have oversight of the city sewers.
City Councilman Byron Wear met Oct. 10 with the Select Committee on Government Efficiency and Fiscal Reform to explore the concept of creating a Water and Sewer Commission. The commission would oversee the stormwater division, and the water and wastewater departments, he said.
The commissioners would report to the mayor and council on strategic planning, the capital improvement program, budgeting, and operations, Wear said.
This would help improve accountability over water resources by promoting public participation, Wear said.
There are many local agencies with jurisdiction over water issues. These include the Planning Commission, the Metropolitan Wastewater Programs Oversight Committee, the San Diego County Water Authority and the Water Department Citizens Advisory Board, he said.
On top of that there are also temporary citizens groups, like the Strategic Plan for Water Supply Public Advisory Group and the Canyon Access Task Force, he said.
Global Focus
“What appears to be missing from this mix is a cohesive, permanent and authoritative board to address the significant issues of water, from conservation to quality and run-off or discharge,” Wear said.
By creating a unified board, water officials would be better able to provide global focus, oversee cross-agency issues, and provide environmental stewardship to make best use of the city’s water resources, he said.
Wear cited the city of Long Beach as an example. Long Beach established a board of water commissioners who have exclusive jurisdiction and control of the water department, Wear said.
Dave Schlesinger, director of the Metropolitan Wastewater Department, supports the idea. Currently, there are three major oversight bodies governing San Diego’s water and sewers, he said.
The Metro Sewerage Commission is an advisory board made up of elected officials from the city and the other agencies that use the city’s sewers. There’s also the Citizen’s Oversight Committee, which reports to the City Council.
Then there’s an additional citizens group, consisting solely of city residents. Recently formed, the new group is charged with preparing a report every year on budget issues for the wastewater department, Schlesinger said.
Water Cycle As A Whole
Wear’s commission would take on all these functions, and more. It would also oversee the local water department and also the division of the environmental services department that now runs the storm drain program, Schlesinger said.
Part of what makes Wear’s idea intriguing is that it looks at the water cycle as a whole, rather than looking just at sewer systems or just at water, he said.
Schlesinger said the commission would be composed of “elected officials that would comment on all three of those functions that have to do with water. So that’s breaking new ground.”
The city is waiting on a report that will describe who should serve on this commission, how many people it should consist of, what background they should be drawn from, and so forth. The council will review the report early next month, Schlesinger said.
