Annual Joint GRA-AEG Holiday Meeting, Mixer, Raffle, and Field Gear!

Raffle prizes are welcome and encouraged! Please bring prizes that geology and engineer-types will love (rocks, minerals, books, beer, wine…). All proceeds will benefit geology students in the local area, so be generous and help support our next generation of geologists.

We are also collecting field gear for Sacramento State Geology Department Students (see note at end of announcement).

The Sacramento Branch Presents

Drilling Disasters and What Can We Learn

Gary L. Hix, RG, CWD/PI
NGWA Groundwater Foundation 2019 McEllhiney Lecturer

PRESENTATION:

“Drilling Disasters and What We Can Learn” – Anyone who has worked on, or been responsible for, a drill site can most likely recall at least one drilling disaster. And depending on personal experience, disaster can refer to anything from installing incorrect materials on a job site to failing to recognize a situation that caused injury.

In this lecture, Mr. Hix will discuss how each of these experiences presents an opportunity to learn, to avoid similar distress in the future, and to contribute to business profitability and ongoing good will.

SPEAKER BIO:

Mr. Hix has been a fixture in numerous and varied capacities in the groundwater industry for nearly 40 years. A former licensed water well drilling contractor and registered geologist, Mr. Hix is actively involved in the National Ground Water Association and the Arizona Water Well Association. Throughout his career, he has been a contributing Water Well Journal® editor and has taught classes for the Bureau of Land Management and the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service.

Mr. Hix is semiretired but continues to share his groundwater knowledge through published articles, most recently publishing the e-book titled Domestic Water Wells in Arizona, A Guide for Realtors and Mortgage Lenders.

McEllhiney Distinguished Lecture Series Background

Established in 2000 to foster professional excellence, the William A. McEllhiney Distinguished Lecture Series in Water Well Technology honors the groundwater contractor and civil engineer from Brookfield, Illinois, who served as the founding president of the National Ground Water Association in 1948.

Each year a panel of groundwater contractors chooses an outstanding groundwater professional to share his or her professional insights and experiences with the industry.

SCHOLASTIC SPONSOR:

ABOUT SUEZ in North America

• Provides drinking water, wastewater and waste collection service to 6.4 million people on a daily basis
• Provides drinking water, wastewater and waste collection service to 6.4 million people on a daily basis
• Owns and operates 15 water and wastewater utilities
• Operates 69 municipal and industrial water and wastewater systems through innovative public-private partnerships
• Treats 600 million gallons of water and 450 million gallons of wastewater each day
• Rehabilitates and maintains water assets for more than 6,000 municipal and industrial customers
• Manages $4.1 billion in total assets.

Suez Advanced Solutions Division: Focuses on Asset Management to help clients manage existing water and waste water infrastructure.

Our Maintenance Program is a packaged offering that bundles in a single contract the rehabilitation and future maintenance of specific water assets such as tanks, filters, concrete assets and meters. After the initial rehabilitation, we take full responsibility for the maintenance of the asset. We also provide funding solutions to help the Owner finance the initial rehabilitation or upgrade if need be.

Our comprehensive service contracts include the design and execution of all maintenance tasks needed to keep the assets in optimum operating conditions as well as emergency services in case of unpredictable failures or incidents. This means one point of contact, a single source of responsibility and one call for all service needs. We provide innovative technologies that allow water utilities to optimize the performance of their assets. Doing more with existing assets reduces capital expenditures and contributes to the long-term financial viability of water utilities.

ANNOUNCING SCHOLASTIC SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

All Proceeds to Benefit Science Students

The GRA Sacramento Branch has a history of supporting university-level science students. Our Scholastic Sponsorship Program is an opportunity to publicize your business while contributing toward a good cause. The cost is minimal; if interested, please contact Michael Bombard at (916) 865-5301 or Michael.Bombard@ghd.com.

AGENDA:

Social Hour - 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Announcements & Dinner - 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Presentation - 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Raffle - 8:30-9:00 p.m.
Usual great food, including three meat entrées, salad, rice, potatoes, vegetable and iced tea. A no-host beer and wine bar will be available.

MEETING COSTS AND RSVP:

EARLY BIRD MEETING COSTS
Members: $33.00
Non-Members: $38.00
Students: $10.00

Cancellations must be made by Noon on Monday, December 9th.
If you register after Noon on Monday, December 9th, or walk-in, a $3.00 surcharge will be added to the meeting cost.

If you would like to skip the meal and just attend the lecture, you can join us at 7:30 p.m. at no charge.

If you have questions about the meeting, please call Rodney Fricke at 916-407-8539 or him at rodneyafricke@gmail.com. For questions about Sacramento Branch in general, including submittal of your ideas and/or desires for future presentations, please call Linda Bond at (530) 757-1500 or email her at Linda.Bond@water.ca.gov.

UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS:

• January 8, 2020: Andrew Campbell, PE., and Jon Gamble, Design Considerations for the Mitigation of Vapor Intrusion
• March 11, 2020: Tess Dunham, Somach Simmons & Dunn Attorneys at Law, David Keith Todd Lecturer at California State University, Sacramento

USED GEAR FOR CSUS GEOLOGY STUDENT FIELDWORK:

Sacramento State Geology Department would like help outfitting students for geological field work. If you have, used but functional gear that you no longer need, please bring your donations (for example: Field pants, jackets, boots, hiking backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads).