2023 Program
SCHEDULE & SESSIONS​
​​​​
Day 1 - Wednesday, June 14, 2023
​
Workshop: Water Audit Basics for Commercial Facilities
Tour: Southeast Community Center (2 timeslots)
Workshop: Using Compost and Mulch to Enhance Water Savings, While Meeting California Regulations
​​
​
Day 2 - Thursday, June 15, 2023
​
8:00 am - Doors open
9:00-10:30 am – Education sessions
Water Rights and Scarcity: From Global to Local (room J101)
Innovative Architecture for Efficient Water Use (room J102)
Strategies to Engage our Diverse Communities (room G)
​
11:00 am-12:30 pm – Education sessions
Frontiers of the Water-Energy Nexus (room J101)
Finding Leads in the Haystack (room J102)
Climate-Wise Commercial Landscape Practices (room G)
​
12:30-1:30 pm – Lunch & Discussion Groups
​
1:30-3:00 pm – Education sessions
Boosting Resilience with Groundwater Recharge (room J101)
EcoBlock: Creating an Urban Block-Scale Microgrid (room J102)
Drought to Deluge: A Rain Garden in Action (room G)
​
3:30-5:00 pm – Education sessions
California’s Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future (room J101)
Blue Architecture: Delivering Net Positive Watershed Impact (room J102)​
​
​
​​​________________________________________
​​
​
​SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
​
Session One: 9 -10:30 am
​
Water Rights and Scarcity: From Global to Local (J101)
Speakers:
• Aaron Tartakovsky, CEO & Founder, Epic Cleantec
• Newsha Ajami, PhD, Chief Development Officer for Research, Earth and Environmental Sciences Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
• Kyle Pickett, Co-Founder & VP of the Board, Worthen Foundation
Innovative Architecture for Efficient Water Use (J102)
Speakers:
• Erik Elmtoft, Associate Principal, AlfaTech Consulting Engineers
• Wright Sherman, Partner, WRNS Studio
​
Strategies to Engage our Diverse Communities (G)
Speakers:
• Amy Weinfurter, Director of Strategic Projects, WaterNow Alliance
• Claire Nordlie, Water Use Efficiency Supervisor, City of Santa Rosa
• Hugo Mata, Principal/CEO, Soluna Outreach Solutions
​
​
Session Two: 11 am - 12:30 pm
​
New Frontiers of the Water-Energy Nexus (J101)
Speakers:
• Alvar Escriva-Bou, Assistant Professor, UCLA
• Peter Fiske, Executive Director, The National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI), LBNL
​
Finding Leaks in the Haystack (J102)
Speakers:
• Chris Hewes, Water Resources Planner, Woodard & Curran
• Kevin Galvin, Water Conservation Administrator, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
• Sonali Abraham, Senior Researcher, Pacific Institute
​
Climate-Wise Commercial Landscape Practices (G)
Speakers:
• Loren McIrvin, Owner, Allied Landscape
• Dave Phelps, Landscape Architect/Consultant/Educator, Garden Enlightenment
• Sarah Sutton, Landscape Architect/Author
​
Lunch Discussions: 12:30-1:30 pm
​
Blue Architecture with Brooke (I105)
Water Rights & Scarcity (I106)
Landscape Water Use (I111)
​
​
Session Three: 1:30 - 3:00 pm
​
Boosting Resilience with Groundwater Recharge (J101)
Speakers:
• Dr. Geoffrey Tick, Senior Water Resource Specialist, Valley Water
• Grace Su, Senior Civil Engineer, East Bay Municipal Utility District
​
EcoBlock: Creating an Urban Block-Scale Microgrid (J102)
Speakers:
• Therese Peffer, Associate Director, California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE), Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) & the Banatao Institute, UC Berkeley
• Sandy Robertson, Retired Senior Research Engineer & Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, Stanford University
• Craig Boman, Project Manager, Sherwood Design Engineers
​
Drought to Deluge: A Rain Garden in Action (G)
Speakers:
• Jennifer Cooper, Landscape Architecture Bureau Manager, San Francisco Public Works
• Brett Desmarais, Landscape Architect/Arborist, San Francisco Public Works
​
Session Four: 3:30 - 5:00 pm
​
California’s Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future (J101)
Speakers:
• Annalisa Kihara, PE, Assistant Deputy Director, Division of Water Quality, State Water Resources Control Board
• Kamyar Guivetchi, PE, Manager, Division of Planning CA Department of Water Resources
​
Blue Architecture: Delivering Net Positive Watershed Impact (J102)
Speaker:
• Brook Muller, Author/Dean, College of Arts + Architecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
​
​​​________________________________________
WORKSHOPS & TOURS
​
Workshop: Water Audit Basics for Commercial Facilities
Date: Wednesday, June 14, 8:30 am-4:30 pm
Location: San Ramon Valley Conference Center
Speakers:
• Michelle Maddaus, Maddaus Water Management Inc.
• Nikki Powell, Maddaus Water Management Inc.
• Todd Bell, Frontier Energy/Food Service Technology Center
Tour: Southeast Community Center
Date: Wednesday, June 14, 10:00-11:00 am & 12:00-1:00 pm
Tuesday, June 20, 10:00-11:00 am & 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Southeast Community Center
Speakers:
• Larry Berry, Southeast Community Center Deputy Director
• Emily Rogers-Pharr, Southeast Community Center Director
​
Workshop: Using Compost & Mulch to Enhance Water Savings, while Meeting California Regulations Date: Wednesday, June 14, 12:00-5:00 pm
Location: San Ramon Valley Conference Center
Speakers:
• Ron Alexander, R. Alexander Associates, Inc.
• Lori Caldwell, StopWaste.org Kim O’Cain, O’Cain Consulting
​
Workshop: Hands-on Drip Irrigation
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 9:00 am-4:00 pm
Location: The Gardens at heather Farm
Speakers:
• Lori Palmquist, Irrigation Designer & Educator
• Kim Titus, The Urban Farmer Store
​
​​​________________________________________
​
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to our Outreach Partners
Almeda County Water District
APLD CA Chapter Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
Association of Professional Landscape Designers
California Department of Water Resources
CLCA East Bay Chapter
ReScape
Ruth Bancroft Garden
San Diego Green Building Council
StopWaste
Sustainable Contra Costa
Sustainable Silicon Valley
USGBC Central California
USGBC LA
William J. Worthen Foundation
​