AWWA ACE94045

In 1980, the San Diego County Water Authority and the City of San Diego agreed to pursue construction of a dam and reservoir in the Pamo Valley. When completed, this reservoir would provide emergency water storage for much of the county. For many reasons, including the way in which the project was conducted, it became the center of a war between the agency and special interest groups and was never completed. By deciding on the project and then informing the community about their plans, the Authority and the city lost support for the project. Had they established two-way communication between the project team and the public, the project may have been successful. The Authority raised the amount of public input to a new level by forming the Emergency Storage Working Committee (ESWC), which has brought stakeholders into the planning process and has incorporated community values and interests into the project. What makes the ESWC different from many community advisory boards is that the committee was given a specific job to complete. While the group provided the usual community input on a project, it actually became part of the decision-making process. The Authority's use of the ESWC represents a valuable model for future environmental decision-making in San Diego County and elsewhere in the country. With most projects of this magnitude, those who create conflict do not feel involved in the resolution of the problem, making further conflict inevitable. The committee allowed an unprecedented amount of interaction to take place between the project team and the community. What the Authority has discovered is that to truly resolve conflict, it is essential to have those who clash become part of the solution.