Ralph at his wedding in front of a painting of his beloved Huntington Beach pier. (provided by Ralph Palomares)
A few years ago, volunteer leader Ralph Palomares, a 38-year dedicated member of CWEA, was standing at the Santa Ana River Basin Section’s (SARBS) Collection System Workshop in Huntington Beach when an attendee walked up.
“Hey Ralph, I need some help, I don’t know what to do,” the attendee told him. “We had a spill recently, somewhere around 500,000 gallons, and no one has called it in yet. I know from these workshops that’s not right. What should I do?”
Ralph was floored. After receiving numerous calls for help from individuals he has met at SARBS and CWEA events over the years, this was a first – an unreported sewer spill, potentially amounting to hundreds of thousands of gallons.
Ralph knew who to call for advice and coaching. He assured the newer collection system professional that he had done the right thing and that people would work to help his agency get it sorted out. Eventually, the responsible agency got the wheels in motion to implement the State’s sewer spill clean-up and reporting procedures.
“I tell people, never hesitate to call me,” Ralph told us as he enjoys retirement in Huntington Beach after a long career in collections and pretreatment with El Toro Water District. “This is what CWEA is all about – get out there and meet people who you might work with, learn what others are doing, and cut down on the learning time. We don’t need to rewrite the book every time we run into problems. CWEA and SARBS hold events to get us all connected and sharing information. I am happy to share what I know.”
That’s how Ralph got involved. In 1986, his bosses “told” him to attend the Annual Conference. At that time, we were known as the California Water Pollution Control Association. His boss’ instructions were to learn about the industry, meet people, meet vendors, and get involved in CWPCA. The association was rebranded as CWEA in 1995 when Don Roberson was President.
Ralph quickly understood the importance of building connections within the larger wastewater community and promptly began applying the knowledge he gained from the conference. He was entrusted with overseeing the collection systems crews, a challenging task back in the 1990s, and not as high a priority for agencies as it is today. As the saying goes, “you get what you regulate.”
“The WDR regulations came along in 2006, and we all got together within CWEA to build training manuals that all of us could use to help each other get ready for the new regulations,” Ralph recalled. “What a difference – look how far we’ve come as the CWEA community. There are agencies now that have zero spills for a year, no spills for several years. Back in the day, we had four spills a week. What an achievement.”
Ralph’s 43rd and last CWEA SARBS Collection Systems workshop earlier this year that he chaired for many years. The event is held twice a year. (provided by Ralph Palomares)
CWEA leaders are all about building a larger wastewater community that stretches across geographic boundaries and career stages so we can all help one another. Ralph noted that everything a collection system manager or operator needs is already out there—the knowledge, the training, the templates, and the documentation. Someone has done it before; you just need to tap into the CWEA network.
Ralph has written down every CWEA event and CWPCA event that he’s attended since 1986 in a notebook. The list now includes up to 15 events pages, and he’s still going to CWEA and Tri-State events. You’ll see Ralph coming from far away since he’s received (and wears!) all the bling he’s collected for each of the Collection System Committee’s distinguished service awards, including 5S, PICK, Golden Manhole, and the Richard D. Pomeroy Award.
“It’s all about training our brothers and sisters of the sewers, whether it’s north or south, it doesn’t matter. We’re all in this together to make it work,” he said.
Ralph’s 38-year legacy in CWEA and SARBS is forever set in concrete by the people he has helped and the programs he helped champion.
Ralph is know for his wastewater knowledge and photography skills and has frequently helped with photography at Annual Conference. This is Ralph’s photo of the Breakers Hotel, the site of our 1930 conference. Photo by Ralph Palomares.
Photo by El Toro Water District
With all those CWEA achievements under his belt, we asked Ralph what his proudest CWEA moment was. He thought for a minute.
“The memory that stands out most is when my Dad came to the 2004 SARBS Awards Banquet to see me run the event as local section President,” he recalled. “He came up to me later and told me, ‘Wow, I raised you right, you’ve done well.’ I was so proud that he was able to be there and celebrate with me.”
“You give back to this association, and they’ve always helped me during my career,” Ralph explained, which is one of the key values of CWEA. “The Association helped me so much; they sent me to meetings and on award inspection trips across the state and allowed me to build this wide collection of connections. I got to know so many people who have become great friends.”
His advice to younger professionals? Speak up! If you have feedback for CWEA, let them know. They want to know what you think. Then, get involved and volunteer to help solve those challenges. CWEA is for all of us.
“I’ve loved the job and the people, it’s been the best career ride with awesome people,” Ralph said with his trademark smile. “I always enjoy seeing what these outstanding professionals are achieving in our industry.”
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