Presented by:

John Kennedy, Executive Director of Engineering and Water Resources,
Orange County Water District

Sanjay Gaur, Vice President, Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc.

Michael G. Colantuono, Partner, Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC

To comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA) must be formed, agreed upon by basin stakeholders and filed with the California Department of Water Resources by June 30, 2017.  Once formed, the work of developing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSP) begins.  How will these GSAs fund themselves, the GSP preparation, and projects required for SGMA compliance?  Each GSA will need to develop a comprehensive strategy for funding SGMA-required activities within their jurisdictions with the first order of business being funding GSPs. 

Earlier GRACasts and conferences have addressed the important role Prop 1 grant money will play in assisting local agencies with SGMA compliance.  This GRACast addresses non-grant sources of funding for consideration by local and regional groundwater management agencies, and will include local agency, industry and legal perspectives.  Our first speaker is the Executive Director of Engineering and Water Resources for the Orange County Water District, recognized internationally as model for sustainable groundwater management, addressing what individual agencies can do for obtaining funding. We will also hear from one of the leading authorities in the field of financial consulting as applied to municipal rates, fees and charges.  Our third speaker is one of California’s leading experts regarding municipal revenues with extensive experience in the implementation of Propositions 218 and 26.

*Early Registration (April 13) is $75 for Members* and $100 for Non-Members*
*Registration after April 13 is $100 for Members* and $125 for Non-Members*

SPEAKER BIOS:

John Kennedy, Executive Director of Engineering and Water Resources, Orange County Water District
Mr. Kennedy is the Executive Director of Engineering and Water Resources at Orange County Water District and is part of the executive management staff. He is responsible for engineering, local resources and administrative functions at the District. These duties include preparing long-term financial projections and capital improvement programs; acting as liaison with the nineteen local cities and retail water districts served by OCWD; developing and administering groundwater basin management programs; developing and implementing capital projects; establishing district water rates for groundwater pumping and annual pumping amounts; purchasing imported water to recharge the groundwater basin; overseeing the development and production of OCWD Board and Committee meeting agendas, and coordinating groundwater storage programs with the Municipal Water District of Orange County and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Mr. Kennedy has over 30 years of experience in the water/civil engineering industry, and has Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science degrees in civil engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, an MBA from Pepperdine University, and is a registered professional civil engineer in the State of California.

Sanjay Gaur is a Vice President with Raftelis Financial Consultant with over 18 years of public-sector consulting experience, primarily focusing on providing financial and rate consulting services to water and wastewater utilities. He has often provided his insight into utility rate and conservation-related matters for various publications and industry forums, including: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Milken Institute, National Public Radio, American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Utility Management Conference, Association of California Water Agencies, and California Society of Municipal Finance Officers. He has co-authored several industry guide books including AWWA’s Manual M1 Principles of Water Rates, Fees and Charges (6th Edition), Water Rates, Fees, and the Legal Environment (2nd Edition) and Water and Wastewater Finance and Pricing: The Changing Landscape. Mr. Gaur is a member of AWWA’s Rates and Charges Committee and has MS in Applied Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a MPA/ID from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. 

Michael Colantuono is City Attorney of Auburn and Grass Valley and general counsel to a number of LAFCOs and special districts. He is currently General Counsel of the Calaveras and San Diego LAFCOs, and serves as outside counsel to the Nevada, Orange, and Yolo County LAFCOs and as special counsel to counties, cities and special districts around California. Michael is one of California’s leading experts on municipal revenues and has appeared in all six Courts of Appeal in California. He has argued five public finance cases in the California Supreme Court since 2004 and helped brief two others. He served on the committee that drafted the League of California Cities’ Proposition 218 Implementation Guide and chaired the subcommittee that drafted what became the “Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act of 1997.” He also chaired the League Committee which drafted the Proposition 26 Implementation Guide and is now handling some of the first appeals under that measure. He chairs the committee that is working to update and merge these two guides. Michael graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in Government and received his law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law of the University of California at Berkeley.

MODERATOR BIO:                                                              

Leslie Dumas is a hydrologist and senior water resources engineer with RMC Water and Environment, a Woodward & Curran company. Leslie graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech, and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. In over 20 years of practice, Leslie has provided hydrogeologic, hydrologic, environmental and scientific consultation for projects throughout the United States. She has managed multi-disciplinary teams on a wide variety of projects, including water resources planning, groundwater investigation and modeling, resource planning, environmental permitting and site remediation. At present, she leads RMC’s SGMA efforts and actively works on SGMA-related projects for several clients.