Board of Directors Justin McCUSKER Frankury*

result in further opportunities at the local, State, and federal levels in legislation, policy making and receiving subsidies and grants. Disagrees partially with the finding. Without further analysis, it is unknown Response: how a restructured entity would effectively prioritize its efforts and actions to meaningfully represent the entire Orange County region. The current fragmented water system structure and operations provides challenges as

it relates to development of new interconnected infrastructure as well as maintenance of existing systems. Disagrees partially with the finding. The opportunities to address and Response: improve existing challenges exist in the current structure. More analysis is required to determine if a new structure is the ultimate solution or if other solutions exist. There is a great disparity between the North/Central and South Orange County

water sources, management, and operations carried out by OCWD and MWDOC. Agree with the finding. Agencies in South Orange County are only members Response: of MWDOC and are not a members of OCWD. South Orange County has many smaller retail water districts that lack a formal

centralized leadership. Notwithstanding this lack of structure, South Orange County retail water districts have displayed effective collaboration when dealing with one another. Agree with the finding. While South Orange County may host a variety of Response: large and small districts, there has been a longstanding commitment to collaboration amongst the agencies.

Orange County Water District is a recognized worldwide leader in groundwater resource management and reclamation. Its leadership, innovation, and expertise can be further utilized to serve all of Orange County in developing additional innovative and beneficial programs. Agree with the finding. Orange County Water District's technical, managerial Response: and financial expertise could assist with groundwater projects in South Orange County through greater collaboration. Orange County currently does not have a countywide coordinated policy regarding

water conservation, which results in difficulty when complying with any new State- mandated conservation regulations. Disagree partially with the finding. While Orange County may not have a Response: "coordinated policy regarding water conservation," experience has shown that a one-size-fits-all approach, which fails to consider the unique opportunities and challenges of each independent water district, is not an effective approach at complying with state mandates. Better outcomes are often achieved if the approach to implementation is left to each independent district. By January 2023, Orange County wholesale water agencies should formally begin