Foothills Sentry - October 2023

Foothills Sentry Page 10 October 2023 Learn more at eocwd.com VPWL activities have begun Fall is here, which means all Villa Park Women’s League ac- tivities are up and running. League favorites -- bunco, bridge and Petal Pushers -- are back. The Mom & Tots play- group for members with a child under age five is a great way to meet other moms while the tots socialize and burn off energy. There are also new activities featuring food and friendship. Sip, Savor & Salivate is one of the popular “foodie” groups. It meets once a month, exploring new cuisines each time. The Dining Out group meets monthly, and samples new res- taurants. For those who have a penchant for baking, Aprons and Mitts members share recipes and techniques, and, of course, sam- ple the results. The most popular of the new activities is VP Vinos, a wine tasting group. For those wishing to be more active (and burn off calories), a new Walking Club meets weekly, with both a morning and an af- ternoon route to accommodate everyone’s schedule. Pickleball is ongoing. VPWL will continue to estab- lish new groups, so that every member will find an activity to participate in, meet neighbors and create lasting friendships. For information, contact Lore- na Shaver, membership chair, at VPWLMembership@gmail.com. P.E.O. Chapter S/Orange awards scholarship P.E.O. Chapter S/Orange has awarded its Dorothy Halleck Scholarship, providing financial support to Monica Zmudzinski, as she pursues a doctorate in au- diology. Her dedication to those with hearing loss is evident through strong academic success in the graduate program at the Universi- ty of Arizona, plus many personal volunteer efforts. As a youngster, Monica was diagnosed with au- diological difficulties. She, there- fore, has true empathy for others without normal listening ability, as well as the need for funding of an appropriate remedy. The local Dorothy Halleck Scholarship is open to women in their junior year of college or be- yond. It is funded through a finan- cial legacy from a former Orange teacher and Chapter S member, Dorothy Halleck. Chapter S holds several fundraisers each year to enhance this fund For more info, contact the DH Scholarship chair by email at: theteigens@aol.com . P.E.O. is a philanthropic edu- cational organization for women. To learn more about P.E.O., visit peointernational.org . S c h o l a r s h i p awardee Monica Zmudzinski, left, with P.E.O. mem- bers Nancy Teigen, center, and Barba- ra Burgess. P.E.O offers a number of avenues for fi- nancial support to women seeking higher education. SCC ranked #8 among state community colleges Santiago Canyon College (SCC) received another high ranking among community col- leges in California in September. In its 2024 list, independent college ranking research outlet EDsmart.org ranked SCC as the eighth-best out of 116 community colleges throughout the state. Among its reasons for SCC’s ranking, EDsmart.org cited the variety of academic disciplines in which students could earn as- sociate degrees and technical cer- tificates, articulation agreements ensuring easy transfer of credits to four-year universities after earning an associate degree, small class sizes and graduates obtain- ing well-paying jobs thanks to their education and training. The rankings were compiled with an emphasis on academic quality, affordability, student retention rates and the median earnings of former students who received federal financial aid, at 10 years after entering the col- lege, using information from the National Center for Education Statistics, College Scorecard, Payscale and college websites. The ranking from EDsmart.org comes on the heels of SCC being ranked 7th in California by Best- Colleges.com, 11th by Intelligent. com and #15 by Niche.com ear- lier this year. “We look forward to moving up the ranking charts as we grow our enrollments and develop new academic and career pathways," SCC President Jeannie Kim said. OC Water District captures rainfall from August storm In a month that historically gets 0.1 inches of rain, August’s tropi- cal storm Hillary delivered 2.56 inches in Orange County. The Orange County Water District (OCWD) reports that it maxi- mized its water supply operations to capture 2.56 inches of rain, en- suring not a drop was lost to the ocean, and increased its storage behind Prado Dam to more than 3.4 billion gallons of water. OCWD manages an aquifer recharge system in the northern part of the county, consisting of rubber dams, pumps and percola- tion ponds that direct water into an extensive groundwater basin. The basin supplies 85% of the water for 2.5 million people in 19 cities and water districts, includ- ing Orange, Villa Park, North Tu- stin and the canyons. Additionally, a cooperative agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers allows OCWD to store water behind Pra- do Dam. This pool of water can be stra- tegically held back and released at rates that the district can cap- ture through its recharge system, eventually flowing into the basin and increasing local drinking wa- ter supplies. The water storage currently held behind the dam is enough to serve 100,000 people for one year and is valued at an estimated $12.6 million, equivalent to the cost of imported water. To further enhance stormwater capture, OCWD is testing Fore- cast Informed Reservoir Opera- tions (FIRO) at Prado Dam. With the support of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Army Corps, FIRO aims to develop improved weather fore- casting, including storms and at- mospheric rivers, and ultimately update the Corps’ control manu- als to increase water storage lev- els behind Prado Dam.