Speaker Biographies

Tim Parker, Parker Groundwater & GRA Director Tim is a Principal with Parker Groundwater in Sacramento, where his current practice focuses on strategic water resources planning and policy consulting, groundwater management planning and program implementation, and groundwater resources development. Tim’s groundwater experience has included both contaminant hydrogeology and groundwater resources development and management in public and private sectors, and he was previously Schlumberger Water and Carbon Services, and prior to that with the California Department of Water Resources. In his current roles with GRA, Tim serves as a Director, Legislative Committee Chair, GRA Liaison to the California Groundwater Coalition, California Water Plan Public Advisory Committee, and on several GRA standing committees. During his tenure with GRA, Tim has chaired or co-chaired 12 symposia, served as President (2000 & 2001), Vice President, Secretary, Branch President, and co-authored the book “California Groundwater Management”, second edition published by GRA in 2005. He is a California Professional Geologist, Certified Engineering Geologist, and Certified Hydrogeologist.

Taryn Ravazzini, Department of Water Resources Taryn Ravazzini was appointed deputy director of special initiatives at the Department of Water Resources in December 2015. She serves as a policy advisor and subject matter expert to the director and chief deputy director on a broad range of issues impacting statewide water management. Taryn leads the Department's implementation of the landmark 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, and established DWR’s Executive Sustainable Groundwater Management Office in January 2018.

Taryn has extensive earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego, and Juris Doctor degree from Golden Gate University School of Law. Taryn is a member of the California State Bar.

Trevor Joseph, Stantec Trevor Joseph has joined global engineering, consulting, and architecture firm Stantec as the Hydrogeology practice lead for California, strengthening the firm’s groundwater service capabilities across California and the West. Based in Sacramento, California, Joseph will spearhead Stantec’s groundwater services strategy in California, collaborating closely with North American market sector leaders and global practice leaders.

Joseph has more than 20 years of experience working across a wide variety of high-profile project types within the water sector. In his previous role at the Department of Water Resources (DWR), Joseph was instrumental in developing the State’s regulatory and implementation framework for California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), one of the most forward-thinking public policy constructs for water management in recent years. While working as a supervising engineering geologist in DWR’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Office (SGMO), he provided guidance and recommendations on key policy decisions to influential decision makers.

Maurice Hall, Environmental Defense Fund As associate vice president of water for the ecosystems program, Maurice Hall oversees EDF’s work to revitalize working rivers and groundwater basins and their ability to provide a resilient water supply for people and nature. He focuses on developing collaborative water management approaches to meet ecosystem needs alongside the needs of farms and cities. Approaches central to this work include shaping water transaction programs that achieve resilient water supplies while protecting the environment and vulnerable communities, improving information systems to inform smart management of water resources, and shaping water governance that proactively considers multiple objectives and responds to climate change. Maurice joined EDF in 2016. Previously, he served as the water program lead for the Water Funder Initiative, a collaborative effort to identify and activate promising water solutions through strategic philanthropic investments in the United States, starting in the American West. He also spent seven years with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) where his roles included science and engineering lead for the California Water Program. His scientific expertise includes relationships between hydrology and water-dependent ecosystems, integrated water management strategies, and agricultural water management. Maurice holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and a PhD in Earth Resources, Watershed Sciences from Colorado State University.

Russ McGlothlin, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Russell McGlothlin is a water resources attorney with substantial experience across the spectrum of water law and management. His practice is particularly focused on the management of California groundwater. He was highly involved in the development of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and laws to reform the judicial procedure for adjudicating groundwater basins. Russell now represents clients throughout California in the implementation of these new groundwater laws. He also has broad experience in numerous prior groundwater basin adjudications.

Michael Colantuono, Colantuono Highsmith Whatley, PC Michael G. Colantuono is a shareholder in Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, a municipal law firm with offices in Pasadena and Grass Valley. Chief Justice Ronald M. George presented him with the 2010 Public Lawyer of the Year award on behalf of the California State Bar Association. The Los Angeles Daily Journal named him one of “California’s Top Municipal Lawyers” every year since its list began in 2011. The Supreme Court appointed him the first Chair of the Board of Trustees of the State Bar of California; he was previously President of the Bar. The State Bar has certified him as an Appellate Specialist and he is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a prestigious association of about 100 of California’s most distinguished appellate advocates.

Jena Acos, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Jena brings her natural resources experience to clients at the junction of water and public law. She works with both public and private sector clients in the water industry and utilizes her public law experience when working with water districts.

Jena’s water district clients include one with the largest managed ground water resources in California’s Central Coast. With the recent passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Jena helps clients comply with the landmark Act while also drafting and implementing sustainable groundwater management plans.

For her public agency clients, Jena draws on her experience as a research assistant for the Harrison Institute for Public Law in Washington, D.C. She reviews contacts, ordinances and code enforcements and attends public meetings for municipalities. Her current experience includes assisting the city attorney for the City of Carpinteria.

Prior to joining the firm, Jena worked as a law clerk for Earthjustice in Oakland, California. She also spent a year as a clinical student focusing on coastal climate change and land use issues at the state and local level and was a law clerk for Coronel & Perez Abogados in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese, Jena worked as a paralegal and translator for an international arbitration group at Arnold & Porter, LLP prior to attending law school.

Simar Dhanota, Department of Water Resources Simarjit (Simar) Dhanota is a senior water resources engineer in the Communication and Engagement Section of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Office (SGMO) with the Department of Water Resources. Simar has been with the Department since graduating from UC Davis in 2009. Simar has experience managing DWR grants from a variety programs including Integrated Regional Water Management, Early Implementation Program, and Urban Flood Risk Reduction; and is project lead for the Sustainable Groundwater Management Program’s Facilitation Support Services.

Megan Tosney, State Water Resources Control Board Meghan manages the Bond Section in the State Water Board's Division of Financial Assistance. Her section manages a number of groundwater-related funding programs, as well as the Proposition (Prop) 1 Storm Water Grant Program, and various grant programs for interim/emergency drinking water needs. Groundwater-related funding programs include: Prop 1 Groundwater Grant Program, Prop 68 Groundwater Treatment and Remediation, and Prop 68 Regional Groundwater Sustainability.

Senator Henry Stern, Chair, Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee Senate District 27 A sixth-generation Californian with family roots in agriculture and entertainment, Senator Stern was elected to represent the 27th Senate District, which includes parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, in 2016.

A former civics teacher and environmental lawyer, Stern is the first millennial elected to the California State Senate. He enjoys volunteering at his local Boys & Girls Club, hiking, surfing and cooking. Stern is an alumnus of Harvard University and UC Berkeley Law.

Jim Weiking, California Department of Water Resources Jim Wieking is a Supervising Engineer for the Department of Water Resources, Statewide Infrastructure Investigations Branch. Jim is a graduate of University of California, Davis and is a Registered Civil Engineer. He has 30 years of water resources planning experience in California. Jim has led, planned, coordinated, and conducted engineering and planning analyses related to water storage, system reoperation, and flood risk reduction, including multi-benefit projects throughout California. Jim has recently led studies in integrated and cooperative reservoir project planning, reservoir reoperation, water available for replenishment, and climate change vulnerability analysis. He is currently supporting DWR's Flood-MAR Program initiative, promoting the use of floodwater, or high flows, for managed aquifer recharge.

Ryan Bezerra, Bartkiewicz, Kronick & Shanahan Ryan Bezerra has been a shareholder with Bartkiewicz, Kronick & Shanahan since 2002. His practice focuses on water right and water supply issues, including groundwater rights, streamflow requirements, Bay-Delta and Central Valley Project matters and water supply assessments. Mr. Bezerra is the general counsel for the Regional Water Authority, which represents water suppliers who serve approximately 2,000,000 people in the five-county Sacramento area. He participated in developing the statewide permit for aquifer storage and recovery projects, has represented clients in the Santa Maria, Antelope Valley and Paso Robles groundwater cases and was a member of the ACWA attorney group whose draft legislation was a basis for much of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. He graduated from the University of California, Davis as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law as a member of the Order of the Coif.

Scott S. Slater, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Scott S. Slater has practiced water law for 35 years and is a shareholder in the law firm of Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber & Schreck advising public and private clients on sophisticated water and business planning. He has negotiated consensual and litigated adjudications and is currently advising GSAs and stakeholders in evaluating GSPs. He is the author of California Water Law and Policy _irst published in 1994 and updated annually and has taught water law and environmental law in the United States, Australia and China. He is the

President and Chief Executive Officer of Cadiz Inc. (“CDZI”) a publicly traded natural resources company and also serves on the Board of Limoneira Company (“LMNR”).

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) Chair, Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee Assembly District 56

Eduardo Garcia proudly represents California's 56th Assembly District, which includes cities and unincorporated communities in eastern Riverside County and Imperial County, including Blythe, Brawley, Bermuda Dunes, Calexico, Calipatria, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, El Centro, Holtville, Imperial, Indio, Mecca, Oasis, North Shore, Salton Sea, Thermal, Thousand Palms, and Westmorland.

Elected in 2014, Garcia is the current chair of Water, Parks and Wildlife. In this capacity he oversees some of the state’s most pressing issues, such as drought conditions, and the implementation of the multi-billion-dollar Proposition 1, Water Bond passed by voters in 2014.

Garcia also serves on the Assembly Committees on Appropriations, Communications and Conveyance, Governmental Organization and Utilities and Energy.

Assemblymember Adam C. Gray (D-Merced) Member, Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee Assembly District 21

Adam Gray is focused on what matters most to the residents of California’s Central Valley: education, public safety, and jobs.

In the Great Central Valley where Gray grew up, each generation has been taught that hard work leads to the creation of value. As a young man working in his family’s dairy holding, the value Adam created with his hard work put him through Merced Community College, and eventually the University of California at Santa Barbara. That education propelled him into a career helping ensure that hard work continued to pay-off for the families back home. Adam found his academic interests lent him to the state’s lawmaking body – the California State Assembly. Working as a Legislative Aide to former Assemblymember Dennis Cardoza, Adam established himself as a strong advocate for the agricultural industry. In his first decade working for the Assembly, Adam successfully guided legislation to exempt fuel and farm equipment from state sales taxes. In the years since, this law has saved California farmers millions of dollars and helped expand their operations. But despite each success, Adam realized he was always facing an uphill battle.

Throughout his years working for the California Legislature, Adam recognized one constant: despite producing a majority of the State’s agricultural product every year, the Central Valley never seemed to receive the recognition it deserved.

In order to help build a stronger voice for the Central Valley, Adam returned home to serve as an assistant lecturer on the state legislature at UC Merced. By sharing his experience, Adam helped mold future advocates for rural Californians. Understanding the importance of developing the academic potential of the region, Adam would later make significant progress in the legislature by supporting UC Merced and funding for programs like the Future Farmers of America. Additionally, Adam opened up a public affairs and communications firm in Merced to help expand the marketing for a region that although vast, remains mainly isolated.

Assemblymember Gray currently Chairs the Governmental Organization Committee and is a sitting member of the committees on Aging and Long-Term Care, and Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.

Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) Chair, Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee Assembly District 20

Bill has an undergraduate degree in engineering and applied physics and a PhD in Astrophysics, both from Columbia University. He had a 35-year career as a computational hydrodynamicist.

He was the first person to develop a computer model of galactic evolution from a cloud of gas to a spiral galaxy. After a postdoctoral fellowship at CalTech, he went to NASA Goddard, where he developed one of the first Global 3-dimensional model of the earth's climate.

He joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and became this Nation's foremost technical expert on foreign nuclear weapons. He was instrumental in the successful negotiations for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

From 2004-2012 bill served as a Hayward City Council member, where he lead the revival of the City's Downtown and fought hard to keep the City's Budget balanced during the 2008 economic downturn.

Bill Quirk was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2012. Since then he has worked on issues addressing energy, climate change, transportation and public safety. He is Chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials which is responsible for reviewing bills that cover the following areas: toxic substances and hazardous materials, hazardous waste regulation, drinking water regulation, and pesticides.