Imperial Region Disadvantaged Community (DAC) Outreach and Support Pilot Project

Community DAC Population (2010)Median Household Income (2010) El Centro ● 41,581$38,481 Calexico ● 36,304$34,848 Brawley ● 24,288$ 39,676 Imperial 14,758$57,152 Calipatria ● 6,953$38,586 Holtville ● 5,835$36,202 Heber ● 5,022$37,472 Seeley ● 1,861$31,250 Westmorland ● 1,767$28,571 Niland 1 ● 1,306$13,588 Ocotillo 1 ● 228$12,396 Poe 1 ● 127Unavailable Total – Communities Listed 140,030$39,093 Total County 174,528$39,402 1.Designated as Colonias Sources: U.S. Census CDWR, 2012, California EPA, 2004 Imperial Region Communities

Imperial Region Disadvantaged Community (DAC) Outreach and Support Pilot Project Primary Engagement Objectives Are To:  Educate: Educate Imperial DAC Stakeholders IRWM planning and development activities, and Associated opportunities for DACs to address their communities’ specific water/wastewater-related needs.  Empower: Empower DAC participation in regional water/wastewater management processes Demystify those processes, and Provide clearly defined access pathways to facilitate community involvement down to the household level.  Elevate: Elevate the quality and effectiveness of DAC efforts to gain visibility and priority standing for their specific water/wastewater project Provide user-friendly support on project technical evaluation methods that conform to state level decision- making requirements/criteria.

Primary Engagement Tasks/Deliverables:  Outreach: Undertake a community outreach effort designed to make DAC public representatives, organizations and households widely aware of ongoing regional water/wastewater project planning and implementation processes, the fundamental elements of those processes and how these stakeholders may contribute.  Workshops: Prepare and conduct public workshops designed to educate attendees on IRWM planning and project implementation and how DAC’s can most effectively participate to successfully address their community water/wastewater needs and management/development goals.

Primary Engagement Tasks/Deliverables:  Seminars: Prepare and conduct public seminars designed to provide an overview and education on economic and other technical analyses that the DACs need to perform to effectively participate in future IRWM planning and implementation activities; particularly as it relates to the preparation of associated grant funding applications.  Report to CDWR: Prepare a detailed summary report on our outreach and support pilot project effort to help CDWR to assemble a set of standard guidelines for DAC water/wastewater-related outreach and support that can be generalized to the entire State.

Primary Engagement Challenges:  Budget: The Imperial Region was provided a budget to perform the outreach and support pilot project that is less than 1/3 rd that provided to other regions. The outreach effort will require careful planning and implementation.  Media: Imperial DAC households have relatively limited access to many standard forms of media including, in particular, newspapers and, the Internet.

Our teams first steps:  Outreach: Brainstorm on approaches to outreach that are both strategically appropriate and cost effective. CDWR is really looking for help here.  Support: Identify the technical gaps that emerged during the first round of IRWM funding. Address them through workshop and seminar programs that set the stage for future IRWM-related support to the region’s DACs.

Questions?