BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS

The Municipal Water District of Orange County has sworn in its new

seven-member board.

The new board, formally put in place Jan. 17, elevated the two members

who oversee Newport Beach and Costa Mesa to the top posts. Wayne A.

Clark, Newport Beach’s representative and one of only two carry-overs

from the pre-Nov. 7 board, was elected as president. Costa Mesa

representative Joan Finnegan became vice president.

The board added two additional seats as a result of the agency’s

merger with Coastal Municipal Water District. The coastal board, formed

in 1940, is now defunct. Newport Beach buys about 25% of its water from

the agency.