News Release (C-20-98)

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For Immediate Release (C-20-98) Contact: Communications Office (916) 324-9670 October 22, 1998

Secretary Rooney Addresses the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Groundwater Resources Association of California

California Secretary for Environmental Protection, Peter M. Rooney today addressed the seventh annual meeting of the Groundwater Resources Association (GRA) of California in Walnut Creek. The GRA is an association of professionals working in the assessment, development, management, and protection of the State’s groundwater resources. As part of a two day conference on the effective usage of groundwater for the year 2000 and beyond, Secretary Rooney delivered a keynote speech to attendees entitled, "California’s Environmental Policy and Ability as a State to Meet Future Drinking Water Needs".

"While California has been known primarily as an agricultural state, indeed the ‘salad bowl of the world’, with it’s growing population mandates a balance between agricultural and urban uses. Cal/EPA’s role and responsibility is to ensure that the urban consumer’s environmental protections are met, while enabling our largest geographic industry – agriculture – to continue to maintain it’s dominance in the marketplace," stated Secretary Rooney. "This is no small task. Solving this problem one issue at a time, preventing pesticides and other toxicants from urban water supplies, has, and must remain, a high priority," continued Rooney is his luncheon comments.

"Cal/EPA staff and groundwater professionals from across the state work together to craft policy ensuring that California’s groundwater is utilized efficiently and effectively. Forums such as this provide a place where important ideas and information can be exchanged. As California heads into the next millennium, it is imperative that those ideas are put to work to guarantee adequate water supplies for all involved parties," concluded Rooney.

The GRA’s seventh annual meeting is sponsored in part by the California Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department of Toxic Substances Control, the State Water Resources Control Board and the California Department of Water Resources.

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