Learn about the past, present, and future of the Salton Sea in this 1.5-hour event.
We will focus on the intersection of water, energy, and environmental issues at the Salton Sea to learn about the resource-rich area and the impacts that different projects may have on the surrounding economy and community.
About Our Speakers
G. Patrick O’Dowd is the Executive Director and General Manager of the Salton Sea Authority, where he oversees that agency’s vital efforts to protect human health and revitalize the environment and economy of the Sea and region.
Patrick recently served as a Board Member of the Coachella Valley Water District, originally elected in November 2014 and reelected in 2018, and as a representative thereof he also served on the Salton Sea Authority Board, having served one term as its President.
Patrick is also on the Board of Directors of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), serving as Chair of its Federal Affairs Committee, a member of the Executive Committee, a member of ACWA’s Region 9 board (Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial Counties), and serves from time to time as a member of numerous other committees and task forces.
Tina Anderholt Shields, P.E., serves as Imperial Irrigation District’s Water Department manager where she focuses on Colorado River resources, planning, water conservation and management functions. She oversees IID’s Colorado River water supply entitlement with a focus on the implementation of water management policies and the coordination of various water conservation and transfer programs.
Ms. Shields represents the district’s water interests at local, state and federal levels – protecting IID’s senior water rights and its annual 3.1 million acre-foot allocation of Colorado River water. She has directed the district in a wide range of issues related to water rights, supply and demand planning, resource management, water quality, regulatory compliance and water conservation during her tenure at IID. This includes the development and implementation of the integrated regional water management plan, IID’s water resources management plan and IID’s interim water supply policy. All are crucial to balancing the immediate and long-term needs of IID’s agricultural water users while ensuring that residential, commercial and industrial demands are met, including those forecasted for the emerging local renewable energy industry.
A registered civil engineer, Ms. Shields provides technical guidance and recommendations for water policies. She oversees IID’s implementation of the Quantification Settlement Agreement, a historic pact that set in motion the largest ag-to-urban water conservation and transfer agreement in the United States and serves as the foundation of California’s ability to live within its 4.4 million acre-foot annual apportionment of Colorado River water. Ms. Shields also oversees the implementation activities of the IID/San Diego County Water Authority water conservation and transfer program. Her work on QSA and water transfer matters includes issues ranging from state and federal environmental documentation and compliance to water efficiency and fallowing program planning and administration.
She is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University – Pomona, with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering; she has completed coursework toward a master’s in Public Administration at San Diego State University. She is licensed by the state of California as a Professional Civil Engineer and Land Surveyor-in-Training. She was recognized as a Water Education Foundation Water Leader in 2001.
Michael Cohen is a Senior Associate at the Pacific Institute, an Oakland-based non-profit organization, where he works on Salton Sea and Colorado River challenges. He has been a leading Salton Sea advocate for more than 23 years, developing revitalization proposals, promoting timely intervention, and writing articles, reports, and opinion pieces.
Michael served on the Natural Resources Agency’s Salton Sea Advisory Committee from 2004-2007 and was a member of the Salton Sea Task Force’s Agency Stakeholder Committee and several of its workgroups. Mr. Cohen is the lead author of three Pacific Institute reports on the Salton Sea: Haven or Hazard: The Ecology and Future of the Salton Sea (1999), Hazard: The Future of the Salton Sea With No Restoration Project (2006), and Hazard’s Toll: The Costs of Inaction at the Salton Sea (2014), as well as an assessment of import/export proposals (see https://pacinst.org/salton-sea/ for more information).
Mr. Cohen has a Master’s degree in Geography, with a concentration in Resources and Environmental Quality, from San Diego State University, and a B.A. in Government from Cornell University.
Lauren Elachi is the Senior Design Coordinator at Kounkuey Design Initiative’s (KDI) Los Angeles office. Lauren is interested in how landscape architects can address global challenges such as climate change and environmental injustice through direct collaboration, planning, and design with communities. Learn about KDI’s Voices of the Salton Sea project.
Lauren manages a number of KDI projects ranging from environmental advocacy campaigns to district planning processes to public park design, helping build consensus between a broad range of stakeholders to achieve community goals.
Prior to joining KDI, Lauren worked at SCAPE Landscape Architecture in New York City, where she was involved in projects at the intersection of infrastructure, ecology, and community resiliency. She has taught graduate-level seminars at USC, UCLA, and the Rhode Island School of Design on such topics as Participatory Planning Tactics, the Spatial Politics of Homelessness in Los Angeles, and Landscape Architectural Professional Practice.
Lauren is a LEED-accredited professional with a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University, and a Bachelors in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University.
Registration
Registration for this event is free for AWWEE members + up to two guests. Non-member registration is $20.