» Chapman University Water Abundance Conference

The timeline of the water-themed conference will be held September, 15 2022 at Chapman University, Beckman Hall 404 will follow this general format:

8:30 am-9:30 am: Continental breakfast meet and greet

9:30am-10:00am: Opening remarks (President, Daniele C. Struppa)

Introduction to conference theme and panelists (Hon. Lisa Sparks, Ph.D., and Steven Greenhut)

10:00am-10:45am: Grand Jury Report, Sustainable and Reliable Orange County Water Supply. Steve Sheldon, President, Orange County Water District.

11:00-12:15 pm: Barriers and Viable Solutions to Conserving our Way to the Future. Is it Possible?

Steven Greenhut facilitates a Q&A about conserving our way to the future with Lisa Ohlund, retired General Manager, East Orange County Water District;  Dr. Tom Piechota, Chapman University School of Engineering, and Paul Cook, Chapman University Board of Governors, and Irvine Water District.

Break 

12:30-1:45 pm: The Delta, Curt Schmutte, Metropolitan Water District. Luncheon.

Break

2:00 pm-2:45 pm: Capitol Politics of Water and Funding.

Steven Greenhut has a discussion with Hon. Assemblyman Jim Patterson and Brett Barbre, Director Emeritus, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, about Sacramento’s approach to the strain on water

Break 

3:00 pm-3:45 pm: Water Recycling, Markets, and Water Trading: Barriers and Solutions

Michael Markus from the Orange County Water District and Josiah Neeley from R Street Institute discusses water recycling, markets, water trading, and regulatory barriers.

3:45pm-4:30pm: Health, Risk and Crisis Communication. Hon. Lisa Sparks, Ph.D., provides insights from a health, risk, and crisis communication perspective and closing remarks.

5:00pm-6:30pm: Reception with light appetizers and refreshments to wrap up conference to be held on Beckman 404 patio.

CONCLUSION 

Speaker Bio

Steve Sheldon - Director of the Orange County Water District 5. Steve Sheldon is an elected member of the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Board of Directors; his division includes parts of Irvine, Newport Beach and Tustin. A representative on behalf of OCWD for the League of Cities, he also sits on the University of California, Irvine Urban Water Research Institute Advisory Committee. Sheldon brings more than 25 years of experience in public policy and real estate development. As a past consultant and attorney, his work included managing hundreds of land-use entitlement efforts before cities, counties and special districts. He is currently the CEO of Sheldon Development, LLC. 

Steven Greenhut facilitates a Q&A about conserving our way to the future with Lisa Ohlund, retired General Manager, East Orange County Water District; Dr. Tom Piechota, Chapman University School of Engineering, and Paul Cook, Chapman University Board of Governors and Irvine Water District.

Speaker Bios

Steven Greenhut- Mr. Greenhut oversees R Street's efforts in California, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Washington state, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming and Hawaii. His duties include authoring op-eds and policy studies, testifying before state and municipal legislative bodies, and representing R Street as a speaker, public commentator and coalition ally in venues where it is possible to move state and local policy in a free-market direction.

Lisa Ohlund- Ms. Ohlund began her water service as an administrative manager at the Encina Wastewater Authority. She became the assistant general manager for the South East Regional Reclamation Authority and then started her own consulting company, Ohlund Management & Technical Services, before her tenure with EOCWD. Ohlund has been a strong supporter of the Orange County Water District and its efforts to develop new local water supply projects to help ensure Orange County's residents and businesses have an adequate water supply. She celebrated 38 years in the water industry before her retirement from the East Orange County Water District (EOCWD) in 2020.

Dr. Tom Piechota- Professor at Chapman University School of Engineering, Dr. Piechota's research interests center around the investigation of climate impacts on regional water resources and society using high resolution climate data/information, forecasting of water supply under changing climate conditions, drought and flood impacts in urban stormwater in urban environments, use of remote sensing data and geographic information systems for improved evaluation of hydrology and water systems.

Paul Cook- Mr. Cook is the General Manager of Irvine Ranch Water District. IRWD is well known as an industry leader in many aspects of water quality, supply reliability, and other innovative programs. Mr. Cook is a registered civil engineer with over 30 years of experience with water and wastewater systems in both the public and private sectors. Prior to his appointment as General Manager, Mr. Cook served as the District’s Assistant General Manager. Mr. Cook received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Pacific in Stockton, California. He earned a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from California State University Long Beach and an MBA from the University of California at Irvine. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for WateReuse California and the California Municipal Utilities Association. He is also the Chair of the Board of Governors for Chapman University.

Speaker Bio

Curt Schmutte
Consultant, Retired Delta Water Manager

For three decades, Curt Schmutte has led multiple programs and projects involving the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and Suisun Marsh, including levee improvement programs, land subsidence research, seismic risk analyses, dredged material reuse projects, water quality studies, wetlands restoration projects and serving as an expert witness. Mr Schmutte has vast experience implementing seismic flood risk mitigation strategies, giving presentations, leading tours, assisting with legislative and policy strategies, planning emergency actions to protect Delta smelt and salmon and advancing new conceptual water conveyance alternatives. As a consultant to MWD and the State and Federal Contractors Water Agency, he has managed large-scale ecosystem restoration projects, facilitated land acquisition, analyzed and designed alternatives for the Yolo Bypass BiOp project.

Steven Greenhut has a discussion with Hon. Assemblyman Jim Patterson and Brett Barbre, Director Emeritus, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, about Sacramento’s approach to the strain on water.

Speaker Bios

Brett Barbre- Mr. Barbre is the principal of Barbre & Associates, a public affairs company specializing in lobbying, water resource strategies, and media relations. Barbre was elected to the Board of Directors of the Yorba Linda Water District from 1998 to 2000. In November 2000, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC). His primary goal in the water community is to ensure an adequate water supply for all of the needs in Orange County. He led the federal lobbying efforts to build a desalination plant in Dana Point and has actively pursued the approval and development of de-sal plants throughout southern California. He has utilized his expertise in lobbying on behalf of the MWDOC to help secure millions of dollars in local, state, and federal funds to build these projects and other water use efficiency projects to increase water reliability for Orange County and all of southern California. In 2009, Barbre was appointed to the 38-member Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), which imports water from northern California via the State Water Project and from the Colorado River via the MWD owned/operated Colorado River Aqueduct. MWD delivers water to approximately 20 million residents and serves the largest population of any water district worldwide. He currently serves as a member of the Finance & Insurance Committee, Engineering & Operations Committee, the Communications & Legislation Committee, and the Audit & Ethics Committee.

Jim Patterson- Mr. Patterson represents the 23rd District in the California Legislature including portions of Fresno and Tulare counties. He served as the Mayor of Fresno from 1993-2001. After eight years of focused leadership, Jim left the City of Fresno with a $20 million general fund surplus, a AAA credit rating, over a billion dollars of new business approvals that created thousands of new jobs, and a reborn reputation for achievement that the National Civic League recognized when it designated Fresno an All-America City in 2000. Jim spent most of his professional career as a businessman and broadcast executive owning and operating radio stations in California and Idaho. 

Michael Markus from the Orange County Water District discusses water recycling. Josiah Neeley from R Street Institute discusses markets, water trading, and regulatory barriers, important solutions rarely discussed.

Speaker Bios

Michael Markus- Mr. Markus is the general manager of the Orange County Water District (OCWD; the District), which manages the Orange County Groundwater Basin that supplies water to more than 2.5 million people in north and central Orange County, Calif. With more than 40 years of experience, Mike is well known for his expertise in large project implementation and water resource management. Mike currently serves on the board of directors of the Water Research Foundation, the National Water Research Institute, and on the executive committee of the American Water Works Association. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Southern California. He is also a registered civil engineer in the state of California.

Josiah Neeley- Mr. Neeley works at R Street Institute and advises the institute's Energy team, which works to advance a well-defined and limited role for government in shaping decisions about infrastructure, wholesale and retail electricity, research and development, fuel choice and diversity, and climate adaptation and mitigation. He also leads the institute's work on legislation and issues affecting Texas. Josiah previously served as a policy analyst for the Center for Tenth Amendment Studies and the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Before his work at TPPF, Josiah was an associate specializing in constitutional litigation with the law firm of Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom in Terre Haute, Indiana and clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola, Florida.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Lisa Sparks- Dr. Sparks is an Endowed Professor in Behavioral Sciences in the School of Communication, of which she was the Founding Dean, with joint appointments in the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, and School of Pharmacy at Chapman University. Dr. Sparks previously served as Department Chair and Director of Graduate Studies. She is an internationally renowned teacher-scholar whose published work spans more than 150 research articles and book chapters and 12 books in the areas of health risk communication and aging and is cited as top ten most prolific authors in Health Communication. Dr. Sparks serves as Trustee on the Orange County Board of Education, elected in 2018 to promote and advocate for quality public school choice options in K12 Orange County school districts.

Water Abundance Conference - Sept. 15th 2022 (9:30am-4:30pm) PST

https://chapman.zoom.us/j/99508554085

 Meeting ID: 995 0855 4085