Meeting new people and climbing all over have been staples of Howser’s career since the Tennessee native moved to California in 1981 to become a reporter for KCBS-TV. His love and enthusiasm for his new home inspired the idea for the show that started it all, “California’s Gold,” in production for more than 15 top-rated years.According to his website, “Huell had a simple idea: if he traveled the state with an open heart and an open mind, a microphone and a camera, he would uncover a treasure of California stories.”“I love it,” Howser said of his career during a break in the filming at the Freeman Diversion. “I get to choose the subject and meet nice, interesting people all the time.” And he believes that “California’s Water” combines the best of the best: a fascinating subject, interesting people, and a commodity more precious than gold to the state.UWCD Board President Bruce Dandy of Division 5, Dr. Steve Bachman, Tony Blankenship and Ken Brietag were along for the filming, and although only Bachman garnered camera time with main interview subject Wisehart, they all posed for photographs with Howser.The mission of UWCD, founded in 1927 and headquartered in Santa Paula, is to manage, protect, conserve and enhance the region’s water supply. A careful balance of monitoring and management is required to maintain sufficient water resources from the Santa Clara River, its tributaries, and associated aquifers, as well as those from imported sources.Many strategies and projects have been developed over the years to accomplish UWCD’s core mission, and the agency’s focus continues to be maintaining water quality and conserving critical supplies. Today, UWCD operates a state-of-the-art system designed to protect and enhance the area’s water resources.“The ongoing prosperity of the region depends on the ability to provide clean, quality water to the underground aquifers,” noted Wisehart.The “California’s Water” segment featuring the Freeman Diversion will be televised on Thursday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m. and midnight on KCET Public Broadcasting System Channel 28.
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Huell Howser interviews UWCD General Manager Dana Wisehart about the Freeman Diversion during an taping of Howser’s show “California’s Water.” The show will air on Thursday, February 7. (Photo provided by UWCD) |
UWCD’s Freeman Diversion featured in Howser’s ‘California’s Water’
February 01, 2008
“I love this, it’s beautiful,” said Howser after he arrived and looked out over the Freeman Diversion
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesThe Freeman Water Diversion and United Water Conservation District (UWCD) officials were ready for their close-up, to be featured in a February 7 segment of Huell Howser’s series centered on the state’s water. The series, “California’s Water” - sponsored by the Association of California Water Agencies - has sent the personable Howser on a quest to make water and its related issues understandable to the average person, not an easy task for a wet subject often considered dry by those not intimately involved in water issues.The series has “been going on about 18 months,” said UWCD General Manager Dana Wisehart of Santa Paula. Normally, “What most people know about water is that it comes out of a tap,” and Wisehart noted that the subject seldom warrants discussion except in times of drought; and the “ongoing issues - how we bank or move water around the state - are a mystery” to most people.Howser’s “California’s Water” is crafted to offer water education in a viewer friendly format that offers education on subjects ranging from reclaimed rivers to recycled water, from aqueducts and pipelines to recreation, from agriculture to water friendly native plants. Filming the series has offered Howser and his legion of viewers firsthand knowledge about various water issues through location filming and interviews centering on all aspects of the state’s water.Wisehart said that Howser has taken his job to heart. “He’s very nice and has attended aqua conferences” to broaden his insights, and “appears to take pleasure and pride in this series.”“I love this, it’s beautiful,” said Howser after he arrived and looked out over the Freeman Diversion, located in Saticoy. Working with a crew of two - himself and cameraman Cameron Tucker - Howser is all business when it comes to setting up shots and discussing interviews, but his signature humor is evident.“This is the first show I’ve done in six weeks,” he noted. “I have to learn to do television all over!”The whole reason behind “California’s Water” is that the subject is “critical to Southern California... if we didn’t have it, we wouldn’t be where we are as a state. We wanted to tackle this issue in a way that people can understand,” including the conversion of “water speak” such as acre-feet to more understandable gallons.“This series has been a learning experience for me and the viewers,” said Howser. And, he noted, “Water people are good people... water is such a rich part of our history; when people talk about the history of California” water is a major component.And it remains so: “Water people know we have to bank water, have contingency plans for the state to survive and grow,” Howser said. Filming the series has “been a lot of fun... I get to climb all over and meet new people.”
