BBBY

What I'll Push For

• Lead On Data Centers Instead Of Reacting To Them

  Data centers are already operating in Orange County, and more are on the way. The technology for cooling them is getting better every day, which is exactly why we should be prioritizing innovation rather than waiting to see what gets built. That means pushing operators toward the most efficient cooling available, requiring real transparency about how much water a facility uses, and making Orange County the place other counties look to when they face the same question.

• Write Policy For The River We Actually Have

  The Colorado River is shrinking, and the allocations underneath our imported supply assume otherwise. Our long-range planning, our reserve targets, and our position in state and regional negotiations all need to reflect that reality now rather than after the next shortage declaration.

• Harden Our Infrastructure Against Attack

  Water systems run on software, and the tools available to attackers have gotten dramatically better in a very short time. That means upgrading control systems and monitoring across the district, funding it seriously, and treating cybersecurity as core infrastructure spending instead of an IT line item.

• Treat This As A Policy Job, Because It Is One

  This board doesn't dig trenches. It decides how we use water and shapes how the county thinks about it: rates, recycling, conservation targets, and how honestly we talk to residents about the tradeoffs. Getting the attitude right is most of the work.

• Protect The Water That Fights Our Fires

  Division 2 runs from the City of Orange out through the canyon communities on the edge of the Cleveland National Forest. The fire record here is not theoretical. The 2007 Santiago Fire burned 28,517 acres over 19 days and destroyed 42 structures. The 2018 Holy Fire burned 23,136 acres. Worst case Santa Ana modeling for these canyons projects more than 44,000 acres in the first hour.

  When that happens, hydrants are the fire line. During the January 2025 Palisades fire, the local system ran at four times normal demand for fifteen hours straight, three one million gallon tanks went dry, and roughly a fifth of hydrants lost pressure. That was a storage and pressure failure, not a shortage of water. Before the next Santa Ana, this district should be auditing tank capacity, refill rates, and backup power in every high elevation zone it serves.