Water Solutions 3: Stretching Water Resources

Hope Smythe received her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from University of California, Irvine and her Masters of Science in Environmental Sciences from California State University, Fullerton. She joined the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region in 1987 and has led the Planning Section as well as the Stormwater, Permitting and Enforcement Division. In 2016, she became Assistant Executive Officer, and in 2017, the Regional Board appointed her as the Executive Officer. Ms. Smythe’s initial work as Chief of Planning at the Regional Board resulted in a major update of the Basin Plan and the adoption of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for pollutants of concern in the Newport Bay Watershed, some of the first TMDLs adopted in the State. Ms. Smythe also oversaw the development of TMDLs for Big Bear Lake, Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake and the Santa Ana River. Ms. Smythe has overseen a major revision of the groundwater basin regulatory program for the Region. This 5-year effort involved coordination with 22 major wastewater and water supply agencies, that resulted in revisions to most groundwater basin boundaries, new Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and nitrate water quality standards for basins throughout the Region, as well as a revised Nitrogen/TDS Management Plan that promotes recycled water use. In her current position as Executive Officer, Ms. Smythe oversees all Regional Board functions including permitting, subsurface investigations, enforcement, basin planning and the stormwater program.

Scott has 28 years of financial services experience in investment banking, investment management, private equity, and consulting. Just over 13 years ago, he began focusing on clean technologies. Today, he is President & CEO at Sustain OC, Principal at EcoFin Consulting, LLC, and serves on various corporate, non-profit and academic boards and committees in various roles almost all related to cleantech and sustainability.

Other affiliations:
Samueli School of Engineering at UCI: Member, Advisory Board
Advanced Transportation Center (LAEDC): Director, Orange County
biix, Inc.: Member, Board of Directors
BlueFire Renewables: Advisor, Board of Directors
Stomp Motors: Member, Advisory Board
Indi.com: Member, Advisory Board
UCI Masters in Public Policy Program: Member, Advisory Board
Capital Market Access: Member, Advisory Board
US Green Building Council: Market Leaders Advisory Board, Orange County Community
Closed Loop Plastics: Member, Advisory Board

Clay and his team manage approximately 32 million Square Feet of landscape with an urban forest of 50,000+ trees. Clay is a certified arborist and proud Cal Poly- San Luis Obispo alumni.

Diego Rosso is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Chemical Engineering and Material Science at the University of California, Irvine, where he is also Director of the Water-Energy Nexus Center. Since 2000, he has been investigating aeration systems and the water-energy-carbon nexus of water reclamation and reuse processes. He holds degrees from the University of Padua and from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mr. Bunts has over 36 years of experience in the environmental engineering field, including the master planning, design and construction of water and wastewater facilities. He is responsible for water resource planning for the District, which includes oversight and management of engineering, water use efficiency, long term planning and the water reclamation facilities. Prior to entering the public sector, Mr. Bunts was a consulting engineer in the water/wastewater field for a wide range of clients throughout the southwest and Mexico. Mr. Bunts was a founding partner in both a consulting engineering firm as well as an alternative energy company. He is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, with Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Civil/Environmental Engineering.

Jacob Moeder has worked as a civil engineer for the public sector in the water and wastewater industry for over a decade. Bringing experience from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and City of Carlsbad, Jacob currently works for the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) as a Senior Engineer in the Capital Projects Division. During the past eight years with IRWD, he has been involved with a wide range of IRWD projects ranging from the design and construction of water wells, sewer lift stations, and pump stations, to improvement projects at various water and wastewater treatment facilities. His recent responsibilities include the management of improvements at disinfection facilities, construction of a new recycled water reservoir, preparation of IRWD’s Sewage Treatment Master Plan, and implementation of IRWD’s Energy Storage Systems. Jacob received his Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering from California State University, Sacramento and received his Master’s in Public Administration degree from San Diego State University.

Johnathan Cruz is the Manager of Financial Planning at Moulton Niguel Water District. Johnathan oversees Moulton Niguel’s budget development, rate-setting, and financial forecasting, and leads many of the District’s data-driven planning efforts. Prior to joining MNWD, Mr. Cruz worked extensively as a rate consultant and served as lead consultant on numerous financial planning and rate studies for agencies throughout California and Nevada. Mr. Cruz has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Administrative Studies with an emphasis in finance and a Master of Arts in Economics both from the University of California, Riverside.

Ken Susilo is a Senior Principal Water Resources Engineer based in California with more than 20 years of experience focused on urban stormwater management. Ken specializes in the development of multi-benefit, environmentally-sensitive solutions to stormwater management and water conservation design and planning efforts by applying leading-edge technologies to enhance the natural and built environment.

Specializing in the application of innovative engineering design, hydraulics, and hydrology techniques to stormwater management projects, Ken’s experience includes use of statistical and analytical models for water quality, hydraulic, and hydrologic analyses. A major part of his work involves water quality and NPDES Phase I and Phase II permitting. Ken managed the Los Angeles County-Wide Structural BMP Prioritization Project, which the Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers recognized as the Outstanding Public/Private Civil Engineering Project for 2006. He was the senior technical lead for the Santa Monica Bay Bacterial TMDL Implementation Plan (J1/4), a technical consultant to the Los Angeles Unified School District for stormwater management related to school design and school renovations, and was technical manager for multiple BMP prioritization and design studies conducted for the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

To advance the state of the practice, Ken served on the ASCE Report Card subcommittees for Urban Runoff for Los Angeles County, Orange County, and the State of California, and served on the Board of Directors of the Urban Water Institute. In 2006, Ken was recognized as the ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineer in the Private Sector by the Los Angeles Section, the Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch, and ASCE Region 9 (State of California).

In 2003, Mark Sylvester helped create the first social network for the TED Conference. He has created hundreds of Communities that include global organizations who want to make a cultural change in how they connect with their audiences.

Mark’s been on the leading edge of software development for more than thirty years. As a co-founder of Wavefront Technologies, Mark helped develop software known as Maya, that revolutionized the way the world is entertained.

Working with major studios, he introduced the world to computer-generated animation and received many accolades – including several Sci-Tech awards and an Oscar.

Mark is also the Ambassador for the 805connect project, an economic vitality network that was awarded the California Small Business of the Year Award.

As a TEDx podcaster and Producer of TEDxSantaBarbara, Mark is constantly looking for ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ and believes that helping people make smarter connections is definitely one of those ideas.

In 2013, Mark partnered with Metropolitan’s Innovation and Technology Team to develop the H2O TECHCONNECT Smart Connections Community. H2O TECHCONNECT is a powerful technology tool available to all community members and has successfully connected members with funding opportunities, investors, grants, resources, expert feedback, pilot programs, problem solving forums, partnerships, introduced cutting edge technology and created opportunities to “Make Connections That Matter.”