Cheryl MacKelvie

Congress Returns and Focuses on Key CASA Issues Congress returns to work after Labor Day and the legislative agenda is expected to focus on crucial CASA issues including FY 2020 spending bills and markup of clean water State Revolving Loan Fund legislation.  On the budget front, the Senate will be busy finalizing its version of [...]

CalPERS Hosting Elected Officials Forum Each year, CalPERS hosts an annual conference called the Educational Forum for employer management and operational-level team members. This year they are also hosting a "Forum-within-the-Forum" specifically tailored to elected officials who oversee agencies that make up the CalPERS System. The forum will discuss pension costs, projections and strategies to [...]

Orange County Sanitation District’s New Centrifuge Facility is Among the World’s Largest The Orange County Sanitation District held a ribbon cutting to celebrate its newest centrifuges facility, one of the largest in the world. The facility houses six new centrifuges that remove an additional 200 tons of water per day from biosolids. Lighter biosolids mean [...]

Meet Lori Schectel: Water Industry Expert and Photographer Extraordinaire   Lori Schectel is the Environmental and Regulatory Compliance Division Manager for the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District. She has been working in the water/wastewater industry for over 16 years. When asked what attracted her to water industry work, Schectel said “Water at its basic level [...]

One Week and Counting until the Annual Conference! The hotel room block is officially full, but there is still time to register for the Annual Conference. Check out the final program and see who among your clean water colleagues is currently registered to attend. Just added! Senator Ben Hueso will speak on Friday. Senator Hueso [...]

Did someone say drought resilience? Federal Officials Announce Supporting Long-term Priority Actions Senior administration officials recently participated in the Second National Drought Forum where they released the 2019 Priority Actions Supporting Long-Term Drought Resilience for water districts across the nation. The document outlines key ways in which federal agencies support state, tribal and local efforts [...]

Congratulations CVSD for 80 years of Excellent Service! On August 6, the Castro Valley Sanitary District Board of Directors and staff celebrated the agency’s 80th anniversary with a proclamation ceremony. CASA’s Executive Director was among those who spoke, acknowledging our founding member’s customer service, safety record and important role in protecting San Francisco Bay. Congratulations, [...]

Revised Toxicity Provisions from the State Water Board Are Here The State Water Board recently released a revised draft of the proposed toxicity provisions as well as a notice of staff workshops. The intent of the provisions is to set statewide water quality objectives for both acute and chronic toxicity and establish an implementation program. [...]

State Water Board Chair Joaquin Esquivel to Address Annual Conference State Water Board Chair Joaquin Esquivel will be addressing attendees at the CASA Annual Conference on Friday, August 23 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. Esquivel was appointed to the State Water Board in March 2017 and designated by Governor Gavin Newsom as [...]

Permit Terms Legislation Continues Making Great Strides Federal legislation to extend National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit terms to up to 10 years continues to gain support in Congress. HR 1764, introduced by Representative John Garamendi, is co-sponsored by eight Democratic co-sponsors and supported by Republican committee staff and members. The growing levels of national [...]