California is in the thick of yet another drought year with record low rainfall, reservoirs far below capacity, and wells literally drying up in communities in the state.
In this special three-part series, we will start by gaining an understanding of where California’s water comes from, what issues limit water supply, and how communities are planning for sustainable water to get through this year and into the future.
In part two, we will talk with water leaders from across the state about how water is used – from drinking water and irrigation to energy production and habitat protection.
In the last part, we will get some answers to the question “how do we survive this and future droughts?”.We will hear suggestions for what consumers can do at home to conserve water, as well as what agencies are doing to incentivize conservation throughout the communities they serve, and what innovative solutions are being developed.
Our Guest Speakers
Jennifer Bowles is the Executive Director for the Water Education Foundation. A veteran journalist, Jenn directs the development of Western Water news, the Layperson’s Guide series on key water topics, the Foundation’s Colorado River project, poster maps and tours, and various workshops and conferences. She oversees the Water Leaders program and leads fund-raising, external communications, and website and social media efforts.
In December 2016, she led an international journalism workshop on water issues for UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Held in Tehran, the workshop included participants from Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Oman, and Malaysia. You can read her blog about the experience here.
For much of her career, Jenn was an award-winning journalist who covered water issues across California and the West along with renewable energy, endangered species, public lands, and other natural resources.
Prior to joining the Foundation in 2014, Jenn served as a writer and communications strategist at Best Best & Krieger LLP where she worked with some of California’s leading water law attorneys. Previously, she worked as the environmental/water reporter at The Press-Enterprise based in Riverside and as a reporter and editor at The Associated Press in Los Angeles.
Jenn received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and history from the University of Southern California and completed the yearlong Ted Scripps Fellowship for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she focused her studies on water and environmental law and policy.
Carolyn Schaffer is the Section Manager for Member Services and Public Outreach for The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. She and her staff support Metropolitan’s 26 member agencies and lead outreach for the Regional Recycled Water Program, infrastructure improvements, inspection trips and other key initiatives. Carolyn also leads social research efforts to help Metropolitan track trends in public attitudes and awareness and supports the Metropolitan Board’s Agriculture and Industry Relations Committee. Prior to joining External Affairs, Carolyn worked on Metropolitan’s conservation programs for landscape and Southern California businesses along with conservation legislation.
Barbara Keegan is a member of the Board of Directors for Santa Clara Valley Water District which serves Silicon Valley. Ms. Keegan was born in Canada to Irish immigrant parents. At the age of twelve, her family moved to California, and they subsequently became American Citizens. She first moved to San Jose in 1975 and has lived in District 2 for most of her life. Barbara and her husband currently reside in Willow Glen.
Barbara is a third-generation Civil Engineer and has lived in Canada, Ireland, the United States, and Brazil. She attended San Jose State University where she earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Civil Engineering.
Barbara has a strong professional background in Civil Engineering which includes many years of experience in successfully delivering capital projects and resolving construction disputes. She was the second woman engineer to be hired by the City of San Jose’s Public Works Department where she worked for 19 years and rose to the level of Division Manager. Her Division was the largest in the Department and she directly supervised over 100 employees.
Subsequently, Barbara became the City Engineer/Assistant Director of Public Works for the City of Sunnyvale. Barbara represented Sunnyvale on the Cities/County/Water District collaborative that dealt with land use authority adjacent to streams. The last two years of her career were spent as a Construction Manager at Valley Water.
Michelle Reimers is the General Manager of Turlock Irrigation District. Under the policy-setting guidance of the District’s elected Board, Mrs. Reimers directs the day-to-day operations of the District’s extensive irrigation water storage and delivery system, as well as the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity within a 662 square-mile service area in Central California.
Reporting to Mrs. Reimers are a Chief Operations Officer and four Assistant General Managers with business unit responsibility in water resources, power supply, financial services, electrical engineering and operations. Also reporting to her are the Director of Human Resources, Director of Water Resources and Regulatory Affairs, the Customer Service Department Manager, and the External Affairs Department Manager.
Prior to her current position, Mrs. Reimers served as the District’s Assistant General Manager of External Affairs and Director of External Affairs. In those capacities, Mrs. Reimers was responsible for the scoping, planning and implementation of high-profile projects such as: a customer research program, full redesigns of TID’s external website, the District’s first-ever power online outage notification system for customers, and the District’s 125th Anniversary Celebration and award-winning commemorative documentary film, The Irrigationist. Mrs. Reimers created and coordinated educational campaigns regarding major water issues: the Worth Your Fight Campaign and the Tuolumne River Management Plan.
Mrs. Reimers advocates on TID’s behalf via several state and national professional organizations including the American Public Power Association, Northwest Public Power Association, California Farm Bureau Federation, and the Association of California Water Agencies.
Mrs. Reimers holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Communications from California State University Stanislaus and graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Moderator
Jennifer Persike is a member of the AWWEE Board of Directors and the President of JP & Co., her innovative management and strategic communications firm, which she founded in 2017. The firm helps organizations elevate both internal management, board governance and operations in addition to external positioning and branding.
She is past Executive Director of Leadership California, a statewide non-profit organization to increase the representation and influence of diverse women leaders across all sectors of California. Leadership California boasts a network of more than 1,700 executive women leaders. During her tenure, Jennifer revamped its centerpiece program, “California Issues & Trends,” increased Leadership Calfiornia’s online presence, built new partnerships, and recruited prominent speakers and sponsors.
Prior to Leadership California, Jennifer was the Deputy Executive Director for the Association of California Water Agencies, which represents the largest coalition of public water agencies in the country. She drove a company-wide reorganization resulting in streamlined governance, board training, operational agility, productivity, and cost efficiencies. She introduced long-range strategic planning, staff performance management, and succession planning. Jennifer also led multiple statewide initiatives and campaigns and oversaw all aspects of the association’s operations, policy development, membership services, and external affairs.
Register for the Series
Registration is free for AWWEE members and up to two guests. Non-member registration is $20.
Registration includes all three parts of the series
THIS EVENT - Part 1: Where Our Water Comes From (August 17 at 12:30 p.m. Pacific)
Part 2: How California’s Water Supply is Used (Date and Time TBA)
Part 3: How Do We Survive This and Future Droughts? (September 16 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific)
Live attendance is not required - all registrants will receive a link to view the event recordings.