Noted Expert On ‘Perfect Drought' Will Open Whole Water Conference In Monterey

Dr. Glen MacDonald, Director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and an international expert on drought, will deliver the opening keynote to the Whole Water Conference, June 24 in Monterey, California. MacDonald’s opening speech titled, “Current Drought, Early 21^st Century Drought, and California’s Water Future” will set the stage for over two days of technical and policy presentations about best practices in water resource planning, integrating recycled water, storm water, desalination and groundwater management with environmental protection and restoration.

MacDonald’s research focus is climatic and environmental change and the impact of such changes on ecosystems and human populations. Using a wide array of methods to study past climate and environmental change, he has published over 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and received numerous awards and honors. His research covers many parts of the earth and has been supported by numerous scientific research grants. In 2010 the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) published a special sustainability issue on southwest drought and water sustainability that MacDonald organized and edited. Widely sought as an expert on climate and environmental change, MacDonald has been interviewed by news organizations ranging from NBC National News, NPR, and BBC to the Discovery Channel and National Geographic Online. He has testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee and spoken to local, state, and national policy makers in the U.S. and Canada.

Rounding out the opening session of the conference, which runs from June 24-26, Paul R. Brown will present on lessons learned from a career in water planning and will moderate a panel of water agency leaders discussing local approaches to sustainable water resources. Brown is the co-author of Water Centric Sustainable Communities (2010) and a contributing author or editor of other books on progressive urban planning. Confirmed panelists include Celeste Cantú, Executive Director of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority; Marsi Steirer, Deputy Director of San Diego Public Utilities; and Dave Stoldt, General Manager of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. Luncheon speakers will be Frances Spivy-Weber, vice chair of California’s State Water Resources Control Board on May 24, and on May 25local historian emeritus from Cabrillo College, Sandy Lydon will speak on “High and Dry: How Monterey Got Stuck in History’s Spider Web.”

The Whole Water Conference is organized by the California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and is open to anyone interested in water resource issues. For more information, visit http://ca-nv-awwa.org.