Page 21 - Delta Living Magazine_october2012

Basic HTML Version

21
www.marynejedlypiepho.com - www.co.contra-costa.ca.us
www.overtroubledwaters.org - www.restorethedelta.org
Discovery Bay, Knightsen and Oakley
in East Contra Costa County and
Blackhawk, Diablo and Tassajara
Valley in the Southern portions of the
County.
“This job is 24/7, including
holidays. It requires long days, for
example I worked 12 hours yesterday
and 10 hours today,” says Mary,
who is part Czechoslovakian from
her dad’s side and Irish, Welsh and
Danish from her mom’s. “In addition
to meetings and appointments, I
have my Blackberry, my iPad, my
fax machine, and then all that is
going on in my mind – I call it my
‘committee’!”
To detox from work days, she
attempts to go off the grid – which in
most cases is nearly impossible – by
focusing on family time and reading
Stephen King and other novels. “(My
husband) David got me a Kindle
about four years ago and I’m up
to 100 books read. It’s an escape
for me,” she says, “I love thrillers,
European history, our own nation’s
history and reading about our early
pioneers like John Adams and other
political struggles.”
Mary works on one of today’s
modern day struggles involving
the Delta, doing her best to keep its
drinking water and ecosystem intact
as much as possible, despite Southern
California’s controversial and
substantial withdrawals.
“There are a lot of communities
who pull their water from the Delta.
If we degrade the quality further,
we increase impacts on the Delta
and the costs to manage it,” says
Mary, who also serves on the Delta
Protection Commission, the Delta
Conservancy and the County’s Water
& Infrastructure Committee.
Part of her policy priorities include
preservation and revitalization of
the county’s agricultural core and
responsible stewardship of natural
resources, such as water. Mary works
with local, state and federal leaders
to find a sustainable solution that
will not compromise the long term
viability of the Delta.
“We need to engage, mobilize
and learn more about our Delta,”
she urges. “Restore the Delta is a
grassroots organization that I believe
is a responsible community group.
They provide incredible information
and recently published a film about
the Delta called,
Over Troubled
Waters
by Executive Director Barbara
Barrigan-Parrilla.”
In this documentary, Ed Begley Jr.
(a resident of Southern California)
narrates the story of how the people
of the Delta are fighting to protect
the region they love and to encourage
saner, sustainable water policies for
ALL the people of California.
“We are all directly affected by the
future of the Delta. Our water quality
is challenged today with negative
impacts on its quality and the eco
system. The more our eco system
is impacted, the greater the domino
effects on our economy and quality
of life, such as property values,
recreation, wildlife and agriculture,”
says Mary.
Whether it’s our Delta, work ethics
or what she teaches her daughter
Mariah, Mary’s golden rule in life
spans all areas.
“I try to do, and be the best I can
every day,” she says. “I tell Mariah,
‘Don’t sweep half the room, sweep
the whole room; don’t do half a load
of laundry, do the whole basket.’ I try
to look at every issue in a 360-degree
perspective and accept that I will
never get 100% agreement from
everyone.”