Vintner enjoys position on water board

HOBBYIST-Glen Peterson tends the vineyard growing at his ruraAgoura home. Peterson, who enjoys making his own wine, also has a passion for regional water issues. He's served on the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District Board of Directors since 1987. Facing no opposition in the upcoming election, Glen Peterson will be appointed to the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District board of director's seat to serve another term.

Peterson has represented District 2 (Agoura Hills) on the board since 1987. He would have been a tough candidate to challenge.

Over the years, Peterson has gained a solid reputation in the water industry and has been recognized for his efforts, mostly by being appointed to more boards and commissions. He represents the district on the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and is the current vice president of the Association of California Water Agencies.

Peterson previously served on the board of directors for the National Water Resources Association, and chaired a Federal Affairs Committee that studied fuel additives' effects on the water supply.

For his work with the California Department of Public Health, Peterson captured a bona fide award. He convened a sixcounty commission of dentists, health professionals and health officers to study fluoridation. The group's testimony before the MWD eventually led to the approval of fluoridation of Southern California tap water by 2007.

"When they testified in one voice they said it would be the single best health benefit fosouthern Californians," Peterson said. His work on the MWD negotiating team was instrumentain fighting to deny fuel companies an exemption from lawsuits over pollution of ground

water with perchlorate and othecontaminants. Perchlorate is both a naturally occurring and man-made chemical, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Peterson sees much work to be done on the local front. He believes the water district faces a financial challenge to pay fonew sanitation regulations coming down the legislative pikeThe Tapia Water Reclamation

plant discharges treated wateinto Malibu Creek five months out of the year. New rules may ban any such discharge, though water district officials assert thathe water is practically of drinkable quality.

"I believe we could be in the creek year-round and have no ileffect," he said.

Peterson said he worked on mountain restoration as directoand treasurer of the now-defuncSanta Monica Mountains Conservancy Foundation. The Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority now handles the job.

When he first ran for the water board position, it was a secondchoice target. Peterson initially wanted to run for a seat on the Agoura Hills City Council. He changed his mind, but found he still had a hankering for public service. Without any children, he didn't think the school board was an appropriate fit, so he gave the water agency a shot.

"Now I'm like a fish in water," Peterson said. "I've enjoyed water policy much more than anything I've done in my life."

That's saying something for a man who has achieved success on many fronts. Peterson owned and operated Cornell Realty for 30 years until his retirement. He was the realtor who listed the Peter Strauss Ranch for sale and saw it eventually land in the national parks system.

When Peterson joined the water board nearly 20 years ago, he said the water supply was in jeopardy. Six years of drought may have been difficult, but it helped to clarify the direction of the district and spurred officials to add more water storage, backup water supplies and diversity in services.

"The water supply is much better," Peterson said. In the past, he said, the water district was a "backstop for local development.

"We had to react to that because the development of our facilities was affected," Peterson said. Cities are now staying within the limits of their devel

opment plans, he said, and building has slowed over the years with park acquisitions of open space.

Having retired from real estate, Peterson has more time to indulge in his passion as a vintner. Since he started producing wine five years ago, he's even won some awards.

"There are a lot of grape growers, but few vintners," Peterson said. Most growers in the region have their wine produced at commercial wineries. "I do it all here," he said.