Speakers

William Alley, Director, Science and Technology, National Groundwater Association

Dr. William M. Alley is Director of Science and Technology for the National Ground Water Association (NGWA). He previously served as Chief of the Office of Groundwater for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). He has authored more than 80 scientific publications, including the text “Regional Ground-Water Quality.” He is active in national and international organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, International Association of Hydrogeologists, and UNESCO. He is a recipient of the NGWA John Hem Excellence in Science and Engineering Award, the USGS Shoemaker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Communication, and the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, among others. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, a Master of Science in Hydrogeology from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.

Brian Betcher, General Manager, Maricopa-Stanfield Irrigation & Drainage District

Brian Betcher joined Maricopa-Stanfield Irrigation & Drainage District (MSIDD) in 1988 as its Engineer. He was elevated to Assistant General Manager in 1997, and took over as General Manager in March 2008. During his 24-plus year tenure with the District, he has had primary responsibility for managing the District’s water resources, which consist of groundwater wells and CAP water, along with overseeing its operation and maintenance field personnel. He has served on several committees representing water interests in Pinal County, particularly in the area of irrigated agriculture. He served on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Governor’s 2004 Water Commission, and recently participated in CAP’s ADD Water program. He also represented agricultural interests related to proposed EPA rules for NGS, and currently sits on an ad hoc committee working with ADWR and CAP for state-wide planning for future recovery of stored CAP water.

Tom Buschatzke, Assistant Director, Water Planning Division, Arizona Dept. of Water Resources

Tom Buschatzke, Assistant Director of the Water Planning Division of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, oversees Colorado River Management; Active Management Areas; Active Management Area Planning and Data Management; Assured and Adequate Water Supply and Recharge Permitting; and Statewide Planning and Tribal Liaison. Buschatzke served as the City of Phoenix’ Water Resources Management Advisor and liaison with the Salt River Project, Central Arizona Project and Arizona Department of Water Resources. He was on the Board of the Western Urban Water Coalition and served as Chair of its Endangered Species Act Committee. He was Co-Chair of the Statewide Water Resources Development Commission and was on the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Water Sustainability as Co-Chair of the Regulatory and Permitting Group. He was a Commissioner on the Arizona Water Banking Authority and the Arizona Water Protection Fund. He represented Phoenix on the Statewide Water Advisory Group and the Governor’s Colorado River Advisory Council. Buschatzke served on the External Advisory Committees of the UA’s Water Sustainability Program and WRRC, and the Decision Center for a Desert City at ASU.

Guy Carpenter, Vice President, Carollo Engineers (Moderator)

Guy Carpenter is a Vice President and shareholder of Carollo Engineers, responsible for the firm’s water resources and reuse practice groups. Prior to becoming a consulting engineer, he was the wastewater superintendent and then water resources manager for Gilbert, Arizona. He is the current President-Elect of the Phoenix branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers, serves on the national board of the WateReuse Association, and was elected to the Central Arizona Water Conservation District board of directors in November 2012. He was born and raised in Arizona, married to his high school sweetheart, and raising three children in Gilbert. He has a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Northern Arizona University, and obtained his professional engineer certificate in Civil Engineering in 2006.

Anthony Cox, Head of Climate, Biodiversity and Water Division, Environment Directorate, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Anthony Cox oversees the OECD Environment Directorate’s work on a wide range of environmental policy issues, including water, biodiversity, catalysing green investment, adaptation and development, and climate change negotiations. He also has overall responsibility for the OECD’s Horizontal Programme on Water, which pools the expertise from across the OECD to address economic and governance issues in water policy. Mr Cox joined the OECD in 2000, working in the Fisheries Division of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate on a number of issues including fisheries subsidies, the political economy of fisheries policy reform, fisheries rebuilding, and international fisheries management. Prior to joining the OECD, Mr Cox worked as an economist in the Australian Public Service, including positions in the former Industries Assistance Commission (now the Productivity Commission), the Department of Resources and Energy, and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. In 1991, he was a Research Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Kathleen Ferris, Executive Director, Arizona Municipal Water Users Association

Kathy Ferris has been involved with Arizona water issues for 35 years. In 1977, she was appointed Executive Director of the Arizona Groundwater Management Study Commission. Her work with the Commission and Governor Bruce Babbitt's "rump group" culminated in the passage of the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act, which continues to be one of the nation's most visionary laws for managing groundwater. She then served for five years as Chief Counsel of the newly formed Arizona Department of Water Resources, and in 1985 was appointed by Governor Babbitt to be Director of the Department. From 1987 until May 2012, she was an attorney in private practice specializing in water issues. She has been listed for many years in The Best Lawyers in America, and in addition to her duties as Executive Director, she will continue to serve as legal counsel to AMWUA.

Alan Forrest, Director, Tucson Water

Alan Forrest became Director of Tucson Water in June 2012. He has been working in the water industry for 27 years, with a primary focus on public utility operations and management. He has held the position as top manager of public water utilities for more than 10 years, and has also worked in the private sector, where he spent more than seven years managing the operations of CH2M HILL’s Tucson-area office. He attended the University of Arizona, where he earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering. He has been a long-standing member of several trade associations, including the Southern Arizona Water Users Association, the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. He currently serves as a board member for AZ Water, the Arizona Section for both AWWA and the Water Environment Federation.

John Hoffmann, Director, USGS Water Science Center, Tucson

John Hoffmann is Director of the U.S. Geological Survey's Arizona Water Science Center. He joined the USGS in 1985, working as staff geologist in Hawaii monitoring Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island. Later, he moved to Honolulu and joined the Water Resources Division of the USGS and studied groundwater/saltwater interaction issues in Hawaii and Micronesia. He has been with the USGS Arizona Water Science Center since 1995, where he has served in many roles, including acting as Director since 2007. His interests, along with maintaining a vibrant and relevant science office, are in regional groundwater availability, groundwater/surface water interaction, and the application of geophysical methods for hydrological studies. He has a bachelor’s degree in Geology from Michigan Technological University and a master’s degree in Geology from the University of Hawaii.

Carly Jerla, Program Manager, Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region

Carly Jerla is an Operations Research Analyst for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado Region in the Boulder Canyon Operations Office. She is currently on assignment with the University of Colorado’s Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems in Boulder, Colo. In 2002, she earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. She also earned her Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado in 2005. She was an integral part of a technical team that developed the Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, and leads the region’s research and development of modeling applications and decision support for water operations and planning. She is currently the Bureau of Reclamation’s Co-Study Manager for the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study.

Leslie Katz, Principal Hydrologist, Montgomery & Associates (Moderator)

Leslie Katz joined Montgomery & Associates in 1989, after brief stints with the City of Tucson Water and Pima County Wastewater Departments. Holding a bachelor’s degree in Geology and a master’s degree in Hydrology from the University of Arizona, her career has principally focused on addressing the water resources and environmental needs of Arizona-based clients. Much of her work at M&A relates to managing large-scale, multi-disciplinary projects — including many that incorporate groundwater models — and providing technical support for legal negotiations and proceedings. She has helped clients integrate traditional and innovative remedial strategies to address regional plumes and discrete source zones at several large Superfund Sites in Arizona. She also specializes in coordinating the full spectrum of water resources and permitting services for clients in the power sector, including both traditional coal- and gas-fired plants and utility scale solar thermal facilities.

James Leenhouts, Associate Director and Investigations Section Chief, Arizona Water Science Center, USGS

Jim Leenhouts joined the USGS Arizona Water Science Center in 2000, and became the Center’s Associate Director and Investigations Section Chief in 2007. During that time, he worked on a project in the Upper San Pedro Basin to quantify the groundwater and surface water requirements of the riparian vegetation, and later on the congressionally requested “Section 321” project to assess progress toward a sustainable groundwater yield in the basin. He also assisted the Pinal Creek Toxics project with sampling and analysis of manganese contamination in the Globe-Miami area of Arizona, where his work focused on stream-aquifer-plant interactions in the San Pedro River basin. He also worked with the group’s water resource managers and stakeholders to understand the relationship between groundwater withdrawals and depletion of stream flow. His dissertation work examined soil-water/plant interactions with an objective of developing techniques for using plants as 'samplers' of geochemical signatures in soil and groundwater.

Rita Maguire, Attorney, Maguire & Pearce PLCC

Rita P. Maguire is a founding member of Maguire & Pearce, PLLC, where she provides legal, consulting, and arbitration services related to the development, use, management and conservation of water to clients throughout the West. In July 2012, she began serving as General Counsel for Curis Resources (Arizona) Inc., where she assumed full responsibility for leading the company’s permitting and governmental affairs activities in Florence, Ariz. Prior to forming the law firm, she was the founding President and CEO of the Arizona Center for Public Policy. She served as Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources from 1993 through 2001. In August 2012, she was appointed as a member of the National Research Council’s Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB). In 2001, she was awarded the Outstanding Alumnus of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. She holds a Juris Doctorate, an MBA, and a Bachelor of Science from Arizona State University.

Jamie McEvoy, Ph.D. Candidate, UA School of Geography and Development

Jamie McEvoy is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Geography and Development at the University of Arizona. Her dissertation research draws on insights from political ecology, science and technology studies, and risk and hazards research to understand how desalination technology is being used to address water scarcity in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Her research is supported by a National Science Foundation DDRI award, a Fulbright Fellowship and a Water Sustainability Fellowship. From 2008-11, McEvoy researched climate, water and growth in northwestern Mexico and southwestern United States at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. Her projects were funded by the NOAA and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. She has also conducted extensive fieldwork in Sonora and Baja California Sur focusing on the potential use of desalination technology, and has conducted research on desalination technology in southeastern Spain, as part of a Partners in University Funding European Union Water Researchers’ Network Exchange.

Sharon B. Megdal, Director, Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona

Sharon B. Megdal is Director of The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) and C.W. and Modene Neely Endowed Professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She also holds the titles Professor, Department Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, and Distinguished Outreach Professor. She serves as Co-Director of The University of Arizona Water, Environmental and Energy Solutions Program, which is funded by the Technology Research Initiative Fund (TRIF). Her work focuses on water resources management and policy, with particular emphasis on how to achieve desired policy objectives in terms of institutional structures and possible changes to them. Dr. Megdal teaches the multi-disciplinary graduate course Arizona Water Policy. She is an elected member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board of Director and has served on numerous state boards and commissions, including the Arizona Corporation Commission, the State Transportation Board and the Arizona Medical Board. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Princeton University.

Peter Mock, President and Principal Scientist, Peter Mock Groundwater Consulting, Inc.

Peter Mock is a consultant in hydrology, geology and environmental science. He earned his bachelors and doctoral degrees from the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona. He is a Registered Geologist in Arizona, a Professional Geologist in California and a Professional Hydrologist of the American Institute of Hydrology. He began work in 1981 as a hydrologist at the Arizona Department of Water Resources. From 1985 to 1996, he continued work as a hydrologist at Tempe-based CH2M Hill, Inc. He started a consulting practice of his own in Phoenix in 1997. Over the past 30 years, he has worked on a variety of challenges in hydrologic science, including: managed aquifer recharge, unmanaged natural recharge, characterization of precipitation and stream flow time series, groundwater-surface water interaction, large groundwater basin development, groundwater flooding, reservoir water budgets and turnover, construction dewatering, wellhead protection, and water rights.

Elma Montaña, Researcher, Human, Social and Environmental Sciences Institute, National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Professor, National University of Cuyo, Argentina

Elma Montaña is a CONICET (Scientific and Technological National Research Institute) researcher and Vice Director of the Human, Social and Environmental Sciences Institute (INCIHUSA). She teaches at the School of Political Sciences of the National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina. She specialized in urban and regional planning at University of Buenos Aires, and later obtained a DEA and Ph.D. in Geography and Planning at the Sorbonne University-Paris. Working in INCIHUSA of CONICET, she leads a research team studying nature-culture relationships and water; power and territory construction in drylands; political ecology of water; and social, vulnerability and other social and political dimensions of global environmental change. She has been awarded the UDUAL (Latin American Universities Union) Research Award and a CLACSO senior research fellowship to address climate change human dimension issues for cases in Latin America. As collaborator with policy-making processes, she has recently coordinated the Mendoza's Province Development Strategic Plan.

Katosha Nakai, Tribal Affairs & Policy Development Manager, Central Arizona Project

Katosha Nakai is Manager of Tribal Relations and Policy Development for the Central Arizona Project. She has served as an appointee under both Democratic and Republican administrations, and is active in the current negotiation and implementation of all of Arizona's prior tribal water rights settlements. The state relies largely on CAP water to settle Indian water rights claims, and 46 percent of CAP water is designated for Indian use. She provides advisement on energy, broadband and tribal affairs, and has served as Chair of Arizona’s Climate Change Oversight Group and as a member of Arizona’s Homeland Security Senior Advisory Committee under Governor Jan Brewer. She was also Commissioner of the Arizona Oil and Gas Conservation Commission under Governor Janet Napolitano. Before state service, Nakai practiced law at Lewis and Roca, LLP in Phoenix, Ariz. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

Ross Rayner, University of Arizona Agribusiness Management and Economics and Plant Sciences Student

Ross Rayner is a third generation Arizonan, born and raised in Litchfield Park. Rayner was an active FFA member in his youth, serving as Vice President and President. Currently a sophomore at the University of Arizona, he is double majoring in Agribusiness Management and Economics and Plant Sciences. Rayner’s family has been farming in the West Valley since 1914, when his great-great-grandfather Jonathan L. Rayner and his great-grandfather Frank moved there from California. His family’s farming partnership – A Tumbling T Ranches – is named for the family’s cattle brand first used by his grandfather, Earle Sr. The farm grows durum wheat for the pasta plant in Tolleson, alfalfa and forage sorghum for local dairies, and cotton that is marketed through the Calcot cooperative, where Rayner’s father Ron serves as chairman of its Board of Directors.

David Roberts, Senior Director of Water Resource Management, Salt River Project (Moderator)

Dave Roberts is Senior Director of Water Resource Management at the Salt River Project (SRP), and has been with the Project in several positions for 26 years. His areas of expertise include: Indian Water Rights Settlements; Water Supply Acquisitions, Development and Planning; Water Exchanges and Transfers; Rural Water Issues; Gila River and Little Colorado River Stream Adjudications; and the Groundwater Management Act. He has been a member of a number of planning and advisory committees for rural watershed groups, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Arizona Department of Water Resources. He is a member of the Arizona Municipal Utilities Leadership Institute, the Arizona Hydrological Society and the co-chair of the Water Committee of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. Prior to his time at SRP, he worked for the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Bureau of Reclamation. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology from Arizona State University.

Dennis Rule, Manager, Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District, Central Arizona Project

Dennis Rule is Manager of the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD), a division of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) created by state statute in 1993. The CAGRD provides a mechanism for landowners and water providers without access to renewable water supplies to demonstrate consistency with Arizona's 100-year assured water supply requirements. Before assuming his current responsibilities, he was CAP's Manager of Inter-Agency Relations with responsibilities that included developing and maintaining relationships with CAP's customers and external stakeholders, and advancing the agency's interests in public policy issues at local, state and national levels. Prior to joining CAP in 2009, he spent more than 20 years at Tucson Water engaged in matters of public policy, water resources management, and intergovernmental relations on behalf of the utility.

Rodney Smith, President, Stratecon, Inc.

Rodney Smith is President of Stratecon,Inc., an economics and strategic planning consulting firm specializing in the economics, finance, law, and politics of water resources. He advises in the acquisition of water rights throughout the western United States, and in the sale and leasing of water rights and water supplies to public and private sector water users. He has consulted extensively for public and private sector clients on business and public policy issues concerning water resources, and the eco¬nomic, financial, legal and political dimensions of water transactions in many western states. His clients have included California’s Drought Water Bank and the government of New South Wales in Australia in their efforts to privatize irrigation organizations. He has taught at Claremont McKenna College, Columbia Law School and University of Chicago. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago, and his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California Los Angeles.

Lisa Snyders, Process Engineer, Carollo Engineers

Lisa Snyders is a Process Engineer with Carollo Engineers, where she has more than three years of experience in planning, design and construction of water and wastewater facilities. She has participated in water and wastewater studies, water treatment facility design, water reclamation facility design, water and wastewater infrastructure, and security assessments. Her technical expertise includes solids handling, pump stations and storage, GAC treatment, hydraulic modeling, water resource planning, and overall project and client coordination and management. Lisa is actively involved in the Arizona Water Association, participating on the Young Professionals Committee, the Distribution Committee, and acting as the co‐chair of the Technical Luncheon Committee. Lisa has a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering, both from South Dakota State University. She also recently obtained her Professional Engineering License in the state of Arizona.

Linda Stitzer, Senior Advisor, Western Resource Advocates

Linda Stitzer is the Senior Water Policy Advisor for Western Resource Advocates, leading its Arizona water program with a focus on the Verde and San Pedro River watersheds. She works with water providers, governments, non-profits and policymakers to advance water planning, conservation and efficiency programs and find sustainable ways to meet human water needs. Prior to joining WRA in 2011, she worked for 25 years at the Arizona Department of Water Resources in a variety of water resource planning positions. She holds a Master of Science in Soil and Water Science from the University of Arizona, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Environmental Science from Northern Arizona University. She serves on the board of directors of the Tucson Audubon Society and the Cochise Water Project, and on the Arizona State Parks Natural Areas Program Advisory Committee.

Robert Varady, Deputy Director, Director of Environmental Policy Program, Research Professor – Environmental Policy, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona (Moderator)

Robert Varady is Deputy Director, Director of Environmental Policy Programs, and Research Professor of Environmental Policy at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy in Tucson, Ariz.. He is also a research professor of arid lands studies, and adjunct professor of hydrology and water resources. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1981 in Modern History from the University of Arizona, and holds a Bachelor of Science from the City College of New York and a Master of Science in mathematics from the Polytechnic University. At the Udall Center since 1989, he has examined environmental and water-management policy in arid regions with a transboundary emphasis, especially in the U.S.-Mexico border area. He has studied transboundary aquifer governance and is a consultant to UNESCO and FAO on a major global groundwater governance project. He has authored more than 100 publications on environmental history and policy, and is past president of the International Water History Association (IWHA).