Bob Tincher
Title: Chief of Statewide Water Initiatives/Deputy General Manager
Contact: (909) 387-9215
NWSA Involvement: Member
Bio:
Bob Tincher is the Chief of State Water Initiatives/Deputy General Manager for San Bernardino Valley. He is a registered civil engineer in the State of California with a Masters Degree in Engineering from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a Bachelors Degree in Engineering from the University of Redlands. He has a broad spectrum of experience ranging from regional water planning and large-scale public works projects to nuclear missiles and amusement park rides!
Bob has served with San Bernardino Valley for over 30 years participating in every major water plan in the Santa Ana River Watershed and helping develop and construct major infrastructure projects. In his current role, he focuses on statewide initiatives and projects like the $4 billion Sites Reservoir and the $16 billion Delta Conveyance infrastructure project that are both in the planning and permitting phase and would collectively increase water storage and help protect our imported water supply from potential risks such as sea level rise and earthquakes.
Organizational
Overview:
Organization Type: Regional Water & Resource Management Agency.
Water Supply: California State Water Project, Santa Ana River and its tributaries water, recycled water.
Population Served: 700,000.
Water Users: Seven Oaks Dam, located near Highland CA, currently does not have storage space allocated for water supply with the authorized purpose of the dam being flood risk management. San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District (San Bernardino Valley), the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), local flood control agencies, and other stakeholders are evaluating Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) coupled with enhanced groundwater recharge downstream of the dam.
Total Storage Volume: Flood risk management storage volume is approximately 145,000 Acre Feet.
Key Issues/Challenges:
The key issue/challenge faced by our region is drought. Since 1945, we have experienced two droughts lasting 20 years, or longer. We are currently in the midst of a drought that began in 1998. Our agency was formed to help our region overcome the effects of drought by obtaining a supplemental water supply which we initially accomplished through investment in the State Water Project (SWP). We are committed to the long-term viability and sustainability of the SWP supply through our additional investment in both the proposed Delta Conveyance infrastructure project which will protect against the potential effects of sea level rise and earthquakes along with the proposed Sites Reservoir which will provide much-needed additional storage space to capture additional supply.
In recognition of the changing climate and hydrologic cycles, over the last 10-15 years we have made significant investments in securing additional sources of supplemental supplies including capture of stormwater and development of treated wastewater for groundwater recharge. As a complement to our investment in the SWP, we are committed to building a diverse water portfolio and actively investing in the optimization of our local resources such as pursuing FIRO to facilitate recharge of the groundwater basin downstream of Seven Oaks Dam; by strategically managing releases from the Seven Oaks Dam we can enhance the groundwater recharge downstream thus saving wet-year water for future use during droughts.
Challenges include environmental factors related to endangered species and complex overlap of jurisdictional authority. For example, multiple parties are involved in the FIRO process because the Seven Oaks Dam is a Section 7 dam, operated by three flood control districts and requires USACE approval for any change to the Water Control Manual.