About WESTCAS
Background
The Arid west has a unique ecosystem. Many months have no rain, and annual precipitation often is less than 12 inches. Consequently, it is essential to protect both the quantity and quality of water supplies. To this end, in 1992 the area's water and wastewater providers joined together to share their talents and resources, assuming the name Western Coalition of Arid States or WESTCAS. A grassroots organization, WESTCAS is dedicated to encouraging the development of water programs and regulations which assure adequate supplies of high quality water for those living in the arid regions while protecting the environment. WESTCAS has current members in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas.
Achievements
WESTCAS Awards
WESTCAS is an organization that has always valued the professional
contributions that its members make toward ensuring sustainable water quality and
quantity in the arid west. Historically, WESTCAS has honored its hard-working
members with a variety of awards, usually presented to our members at the WESTCAS
Annual Summer Conference. Please review the following list of awards and their
recipients.
WESTCAS Awards Summary
Vision and Mission Statements
WESTCAS Vision Mission Goals Obj-1
Goals and Objectives
Membership List
Management
| OFFICERS | TELEPHONE | |
|
president Robert Hollander Alan Plummer Associates, Inc. Tempe, AZ |
rhollander@apaienv.com | 480-371-0015 |
|
vice president Wayne Owen Tarrant Regional Water District Fort Worth, TX |
wayne.owen@trwd.com | 817-335-2491-157 |
|
secretary Steve Bigley Coachella Valley Water District |
sbigley@cvwd.org | 760-398-2651 |
|
treasurer Larry Libeu Rancho California Water District Temecula, CA |
llibeu@roadrunner.com | 951-553-1600 |
| BOARD OF DIRECTORS | TELEPHONE | |
|
ARIZONA |
||
| Ed Curley | ed.curley@pima.gov | 520-740-6500 |
| Robert Hollander | rhollander@apaienv.com | 480-371-0015 |
|
CALIFORNIA |
||
| Manny Aranda | info@sbvwcd.dst.ca.us | 909-793-2503 |
| Steve Bigley | sbigley@cvwd.org | 760-398-2651 |
|
COLORADO |
||
| Mike Eytel | meytel@crwcd.org | 970-945-8522 |
| Nancy Keller | nkeller@pueblo.us | 719-553-2278 |
|
NEVADA |
||
| Bruce Johnson | bruce.johnson1@ch2m.com | 702-953-1221 |
| Rick Mills | rick.mills@cityofhenderson.com | 702-267-2748 |
|
NEW MEXICO |
||
| John Stomp | jstomp@abcwua.org | 505-768-3631 |
| Kelly Collins | collinska@cdm.com | 505-243-3200 |
|
TEXAS |
||
| Peggy Glass | peggy@apaienv.com | 512-452-5905 |
| Wayne Owen | wayne.owen@trwd.com | 817-335-2491-157 |
|
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT |
||
| Charlie Nylander | cdnylander@comcast.net | 505-820-6318 |
|
ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS |
||
| Jolene McCaleb | jmccaleb@taylormccaleb.com | 505-888-6640 |
| Mike Fleury | mfleury@carollo.com | 951-776-3955 |
|
AT-LARGE |
||
| Alan Dyer | ajdyer93@aol.com | 909-875-1804 |
| Robert Martin | rmartin@eastvalley.org | 909-885-4900 |
|
WASHINGTON REPRESENTATION |
||
| Legislative Advocate Hicks-Ray Associates | fbhicks@aol.com tom@hicks-ray.com |
703-866-4290 |
Legislative Advocate
Hicks-Ray Associates
Fred B. Hicks, Ph.D.
P.O. Box 2115
Springfield, VA 22152-0115
fbhicks@aol.com
Tel: (703) 866-4290
Cell: (703) 626-5384
Fax: (703) 866-4228
J. Tom Ray, P.E.
P.O. Box 955
Waco, Texas 76703-0955
tom@hicks-ray.com
Tel: (254) 753-9585
Fax: (254) 753-9593
Administrative Services
Dawn Moore, CMP
Administrative Director
1810 Wynthrop Manor Drive
Marietta, GA 30064
westcas@mindspring.com
Tel: (770) 424-8111
Fax: (770) 424-9468
Committees
Policy
The WESTCAS Policy Committee has the responsibility for developing and recommending policies to the Board of Directors in two separate areas, i.e. policy for the operation and management of the organization and policy regarding the broad subject of water supply. The committee is made up of interested WESTCAS members, who network and communicate throughout the year regarding the development of policy recommendations that are presented and discussed during periodic conference calls and in Committee Workshops at WESTCAS conferences. All policy recommendations developed by the committee are proposed to the Board of Directors for adoption. Organizational policy recommendations may address such areas as: annual membership dues, conference fees, by-laws, contractual services, etc. While policy recommendations regarding water supply are developed to advocate adequate water supply for water uses in the arid West. Ensuring adequate quantity of water supply for all beneficial uses of water in the arid West touches upon all aspects of water resource development and use, including: water development, storage, conveyance, conservation, security, reclamation, recycling, reuse, desalinization, environmental flow, and other aspects relevant to water supply. The Policy Committee works in close harmony with the WESTCAS Legislative, Regulatory, and Associates Committees to perfect policy recommendations regarding water supply.
Legislative
The Legislative Budget Committee was established as an alternate method of influencing Congressional action. WESTCAS intended that it's primary efforts be focused on ensuring federal regulations were fair in their treatment of the arid states. The method of achieving that fairness was to influence the language of the legislative reauthorization of the CWA, SDWA, and ESA, which would form the basis for regulatory action. WESTCAS leaders, however, realized that another avenue available was to influence the legislative budgets and appropriations for the federal departments that conduct business under, or enforce the regulations of, the CWA, SDWA, and ESA. Hence, the Legislative Budget Committee was created to compliment the work of the WESTCAS Task Forces that were specifically focused on language for the reauthorization of those Acts.
Regulatory
Over the years WESTCAS' Regulatory Committee has been
very successful in getting results. They have been the leader on many issues
resulting in other organizations joining with WESTCAS and supporting WESTCAS
efforts. They have led the way on Bio-monitoring, Arid West Water Quality
Standards, Water Transfer Rules and E.P.A. Policies.
The Regulatory Committee: (1) produces comments on proposed Federal and
State regulations (2) produces comments on Federal and State implementing
guidance (3) prepares issue papers on topics of concern to WESTCAS (4)
assists in preparing positions for Amicus Briefs or Appeals regarding
regulations or litigation with impacts on regulatory interpretation (5)
presents educational programs on regulatory issues for the membership.
How are these work products produced? When interest is expressed by the
membership on one of the above items a task force is formed of interested
parties. The project is then defined, a work plan is prepared, and a
work product is produced. This work product is vetted to the committee
membership and when acceptable presented to the WESTCAS Board for action.
Although the Regulatory Committee has produced many work products as a result
of membership driven initiatives as described above, the Committee also
develops work products as a result of requests from the Board of Directors.
Outreach
The Western Coalition of Arid States (WESTCAS) Outreach Committee is generally responsible for membership support activities including retention and recruiting of members, distribution of information regarding issues of importance to members and activities associated with the organization. The Outreach Committee is responsible for preparation of the Newsletter and developing other outreach mechanisms such as the WESTCAS Brochure. Members of the Outreach Committee include the Vice President, who serves as chair, at least one other member of the Board of Directors, state coordinators and volunteers from the membership.
Associates
The Associates Committee is composed of consultants, lawyers and researchers with principle areas of practice in water, wastewater and water resources. A primary objective of the Associates Committee is to promote research and application of technology in solving problems facing WESTCAS members. This includes providing presentations and information on emerging and applied technologies at WESTCAS meetings, giving testimony to support research, and providing data for WESTCAS initiatives. The Associates Committee also provides financial support for various WESTCAS activities. The strength of the Associates contribution to WESTCAS comes from the variety and number of projects Associate members are involved with throughout the Arid West.
Committee Chairs
Associates Committee
Chair-Mike Fleury
Regional Infrastructure Manager
7888 Mission Grove Parkway South
Riverside, CA 92508
951-776-3955
mfleury@carollo.com
Co-Chair-Kelly Collins
Senior Environmental Scientist
CDM
6000 Uptown Blvd. Suite 200
Albuquerque, NM 87110
505-243-3200
collinska@cdm.com
Policy Committee
Chair-Robert Hollander
WESTCAS President
Alan Plummer Associates, Inc.
Tempe, AZ
480-371-0015
rhollander@apaienv.com
Co-Chair-Charlie Nylander
WESTCAS Immediate Past President
Watermatters LLC
11 Abierto Way
Santa Fe, NM 87506
505-820-6318
cdnylander@comcast.net
Legislative Committee
Chair-Linda Christie
Community and Government Relations Director
Tarrant Regional Water District
P. O. Box 4508
Forth Worth, TX 76164
817-335-2491
linda.christie@trwd.com
Co-Chair-Claire Harrison
Eastern Municipal Water District
P. O. Box 8300
Perris, CA 92572
951-928-3777 x4526
harrisonc@emwd.org
Regulatory Committee
Chair-Harlan Agnew
Deputy County Attorney
Pima County
32 N. Stone Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85701
520-740-5571
harlan.agnew@pcao.pima.gov
Co-Chair-Fred Andes, Esq., Partner
Barnes & Thornburg LLP
One North Wacker Drive Suite 4400
Chicago, IL 60606
312-357-1313
fredric.andes@btlaw.com
Outreach Committee
Chair-Wayne Owen
WESTCAS Vice President
Planning Director
Tarrant Regional Water District
P.O. Box 4508
Fort Worth, TX 76164-0508
817-335-2491
wayne.owen@trwd.com
Co-Chair-Charlie Nylander
WESTCAS Immediate Past President
Watermatters LLC
11 Abierto Way
Santa Fe, NM 87506
505-820-6318
cdnylander@comcast.net
Organizational Structure
Contact
WESTCAS Partnerships
Water Infrastructure Network (WIN)
www.win-water.org
The Water Infrastructure Network is a broad-based coalition of local elected
officials, drinking water and wastewater service providers, state
environmentalists dedicated to preserving and protecting the health, environment
and economic gains that America's drinking water and wastewater infrastructure
provides.
Federal Water Quality Coalition (FWQC)
www.fwqc.org
WESTCAS is a member of the Federal Water Quality Coalition.
National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA)
www.nacwa.org
WESTCAS members support the National Association of Clean Water Agencies.
Water Environment Federation (WEF)
www.wef.org
Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF)
www.werf.org
National Water Resources Association (NWRA)
www.nwra.org