Stormwater Capture 2022-2023 : An OCWA Industry Insight

October 18, 2023
Industry Insight Presentation

Lessons Learned in
Stormwater Capture and
Groundwater Recharge
in 2022-2023

Presented by:
Ben Smith
Director of Recharge & Wetlands Operations,
Orange County Water District

Dave & Busters – Irvine Spectrum
661 Spectrum Center Drive
Sign-In: 11:30 am, Lunch at Noon
Presentation: 12:30 pm

Hosted by OCWA.

We’re Proud to Recognize
Our Sponsors
for the October 2023 Webinar:

Click on the logos above
to learn more about our October 2023 Sponsors.

About Our Presentation

Turn the handle and the water flows from our taps. It seems effortless, but behind the scenes lies an intricate system of more than two dozen groundwater recharge basins in north and central Orange County that percolate into the aquifer more than 83 billion gallons of water per year.

Managing the water for those recharge basins is an ongoing challenge for the Orange County Water District. And in the past year, the District’s efforts have been tested in a multitude of ways.

After a winter of unusually high rainfall, OCWD had to deal with the unexpected impact of this summer’s Tropical Storm Hillary, which dumped record amounts of rain in the Santa Ana River watershed.

Plan now to join us, October 18, to learn firsthand about the efforts OCWD undertook this year to capture, store, and percolate stormwater, recycled water, and imported water to ensure the surface recharge basins continue to operate efficiently. The lessons learned this year will guide OCWD’s efforts in the years ahead, but they’ll be tested this winter, as most forecasts see a wet El Niño before us.

OCWA Members with Reservations:  $30.00

Non-Members with Reservations:  $45.00

OCWA Members without Reservations:  $45.00 (at the door)

Non-Members without Reservations:  $45.00 (at the door)

Reservations must be made by end-of-day, Tuesday, October 17,
to qualify for the Reservation Rate.
Cancellations received AFTER this date CANNOT be refunded.

About Our Speaker

Ben Smith

Director of Recharge and Wetland Operations,
Orange County Water District

As the Director of Recharge and Wetland Operations for the Orange County Water District, Ben Smith is responsible for operations of both the surface recharge facilities on the Santa Ana River and the constructed wetlands behind the Prado Dam. Among his responsibilities, Ben optimizes system percolation and storage, manages facility planning maintenance, and oversees the management of stormwater, as well as imported and recycled water recharge.

Ben started at OCWD in 2010 in the engineering department where he was the project manager of more than $100 million in capital improvement and repair projects.

In addition to bachelor and master’s degrees in civil engineering, Ben also earned a master’s degree in public administration.