GRACast: Collaborative Engagement in Groundwater Planning: Perils and Potential
Free GRACast!
Presented by:
Gina Bartlett
Senior Mediator, Consensus Building Institute
Juliet Christian Smith
Senior Program Manager, Water Foundation
Ann DuBay
Legislative and Community Affairs, Sonoma County Water Agency
Ryan Golten
Senior Associate, Consensus Building Institute
Abby Taylor-Silva
Vice President of Policy and Communications, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California
The GSA formation process offered an early opportunity for priority groundwater basins in California to bring together diverse stakeholders from rural, urban, agriculture, environmental, and other interests. In this session, key groundwater stakeholders and the Consensus Building Institute will look back to look forward on best practices for collaborative efforts in SGMA implementation, particularly as California’s basins look towards groundwater sustainability plan development. The discussion will kick off with a 3-minute video framing the potential of collaboration and then call upon panel member who have deep insight on opportunity and pitfalls of collaborative engagement for groundwater sustainability planning.
Moderator:
Gina Bartlett
Senior Mediator, Consensus Building Institute
Gina Bartlett is a senior mediator with the Consensus Building Institute. Based in San Francisco, Ms. Bartlett has more than twenty years experience as a facilitator and mediator in consensus building and collaborative planning on public policy issues over a broad range of areas, including water and natural resources, land management, and scientific and technical issues. Bartlett’s specialty is multi-party negotiation and problem solving in complex, high stakes cases. Ms. Bartlett has worked on implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in Sonoma County with three priority basins that each formed a groundwater sustainability agency and in the Salinas Valley with eight sub-basins that developed several GSAs, and with the State Water Resources Control Board on statewide efforts. She previously designed and facilitated development of the Sonoma Valley and Santa Rosa groundwater management plans. She has mediated a number of complex water resources issues in California, including the Mono Basin and Owens Valley, integrated regional water management, the California Urban Water Conservation Council and California Water Plan. Ms. Bartlett is on the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution roster of senior mediators.
Presenters:
Ann DuBay
Legislative and Community Affairs, Sonoma County Water Agency
Ann DuBay coordinates state legislative outreach and community affairs for the Sonoma County Water Agency, and has been significantly involved in the creation of three Groundwater Sustainability Agencies in Sonoma County. She is spearheading SGMA outreach through a contract between the Water Agency and the GSAs. Before joining the Water Agency in 2008, Ann was an editorial writer and columnist for The Press Democrat for eight years. Ann has an MBA and has worked for nonprofit agencies and in the California State Senate as a policy consultant. Ann’s great grandparents moved from Italy to Sonoma County in the 1890s, and she grew up picking prunes on family ranches. Today, Ann, her husband Jeremy Olsan and their son Jake grow olives, ride bikes and spend a lot of time hiking.
Ryan Golten
Senior Associate, Consensus Building Institute
Ryan is a Senior Associate with CBI, where she works with communities, agencies, and others to help resolve contentious issues related to water allocation, watershed planning, and water quality, as well as land, energy, and other natural resources. As a mediator, facilitator, and former attorney, Ryan is known for her ability to navigate complex regulatory and technical environments while working to understand and incorporate stakeholder needs, bring parties together to reach broadly supported outcomes, and create a foundation for long-term relationships and problem solving, particularly in environments with historic tensions and significant emotions. Based in CBI’s Colorado office, Ryan has worked extensively in western, southwestern, and Spanish-speaking communities. She teaches collaborative problem solving, facilitation, and mediation for water management, natural resources, and public policy professionals and other audiences.
Abby Taylor-Silva
Vice President of Policy and Communications, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California
Abby Taylor-Silva is the Vice President of Policy and Communications at the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, a 350 member-strong agricultural trade association spanning the coastal region encompassing Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Santa Clara counties. Taylor-Silva is a native of Monterey and San Benito counties. Her family farmed in Monterey County for over 50 years. As a graduate of UC Davis, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, and minored in Agricultural and Managerial Economics. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Salinas, the Past President of the Central Coast Ag Task Force, Past President of California Women for Agriculture’s Salinas Valley Chapter, Food Safety Director to statewide California Women for Agriculture, and Executive Board Member to Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Juliet Christian Smith
Senior Program Manager, Water Foundation
Thank you to our Sponsor!
GHD is one of the world’s leading professional services companies operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Privately owned by our people, GHD provides engineering, environmental, and construction services to private and public sector clients across five continents and the Pacific region. Focused on creating lasting community benefit, our connected global network of 9000 people delivers projects with high standards of safety, quality, and ethics.
Committed to sustainable development, GHD improves the physical, natural, and social environments of the many communities in which we operate. www.ghd.com
Additional Sponsorship Opportunites Available!
Email us for more information: kschrimsher@grac.org