The October 29 Bay-Delta plan includes but does not fully incorporate the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes pathway. State Water Contractors will review it; Sites Authority found little project impact ahead of a November 4 water-right hearing. On November 3, the board voted 4–0 to award a $565,000 reservoir recoating contract and authorized an MOU amendment removing Valley Sanitary District as an active member of a regional water-management group.
At its October 29 meeting, the Desert Water Agency Executive Committee reviewed a regional water-management MOU restatement removing Valley Sanitary District and a proposed Palm Springs East No. 2 reservoir maintenance contract award for the November 3 board agenda. The committee did not advance a request for board compensation and approval of a travel date for the November 19 Southern California Water Coalition dinner, citing comparable benefits from existing associations.
Vice President McKenna relayed a 70–80% chance of an exceptionally wet winter. Staff reported no agency facility damage from Tropical Storm Rachel’s creek flows and is investigating sewer inflow at Cathedral Canyon Lift Station. Mission Creek and Indio Subbasin groundwater workshops are upcoming. The board approved a salary chart adding an Environmental Compliance Coordinator and authorized an easement-rights transaction for $5,000 plus a $700 fee.
The Executive Committee opposed adding DWR and Riverside County LAFCO meetings as standing compensable events and did not support adding a ticketed Desert Hot Springs wellness retreat. The October 20 board agenda includes an already-budgeted Environmental Compliance Coordinator position that must be added to the salary chart before it is filled, plus a proposed sale of part of a Whitewater Mutual easement.
The board adopted an AI policy requiring human review and agency-procured tools for staff and directors. It extended Palm Springs International Airport’s non-functional-turf irrigation deadline to January 1, 2030; the airport plans to remove roughly 330,000 square feet. Staff outlined limits on the agency’s authority over AI data centers and new requirements for water supply assessments and certain facility-related infrastructure costs.
