By Greg Hazley
Sacramento PR firm Larsen Cazanis has picked up a $180K, year-long pact with the northern California Regional Water Authority following an RFP process, as utilities seek to gauge and shape public opinion on plans to manage the region’s troubled water supply.
The authority’s government affairs committee recommended the pursuit of a firm in November to gauge public opinion and educate the public on management plans for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast which provides drinking water to 25M people, as well as irrigation for four million acres of farmland.
Pollution has ravaged the Delta’s ecosystem, threatening the water resource and sparking efforts at the local, state and federal level to intervene.
Larsen Canzanis is headed by former Burson-Marsteller managing director Greg Larsen, who previously led the firm’s Sacramento outpost. LC’s pact started Feb. 1.
The RWA has also designated San Francisco firm CirclePoint for any future PR projects that may arise.
The authority’s members are concerned with any push to assess diversion fees or other form of payment to fund Delta recovery efforts, as well as any reduced water supply as a result of re-allocation or other measures.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Feb. 10 said it will kick of a Clean Water Act review of water pollution in the Delta, a key start in the process to implement a solution.
The Delta drains half of California’s rainwater.
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