Water Issues Forum

*NOTE: Wichita attendees should be advised to park on either the 21st Street or Ridge Road sides of the parking lot.

Cancellation Policy: 24 hours prior to arrival unless weather related
 

Room block expiration date: 1/25/10

Cancellation Policy: 24 hour notice prior to arrival.  No charge if due to weather

Featured Speakers

Rob Aiken joined NWREC in 1999 to focus on water-limited cropping systems. Long-term studies examine effects of cropping intensity and cultural practices on water use and land productivity. He provides instrumentation support to identify irrigation management effects on yield formation, physiology support to identify transpiration efficiency and cold tolerance traits in sorghum, and agronomic support for developing pest-resistant sunflower hybrids.

Debra Ary, P.E. - Superintendent Production and Pumping for Wichita Water Utilities.

Debra Ary manages the operations of the Water Treatment Plant, Cheney Reservoir and the Equus Beds Well Field and is excited to take part in the City’s Equus Beds Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project.

Debra worked in the Public Works department from 1999-2005, first as an engineering intern and later as an engineer.  During that time she wrote petitions for public improvements, designed small water and sewer systems and pavement projects.  In 2005 she moved out to the maintenance division as a field storm water engineer and in 2007 joined Water Utilities as a Division Engineer.

Debra received a bachelor’s degree in music education, a minor in mathematics and finally Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State University. She is also licensed as a Civil Engineer (P.E.)

Sam Atherton has worked for PWWSD #4 for 26 years; the last 7 as Manager. The District is a wholesaler to 6 cities and 8 rural water districts.  The District has a Marketing Contract and treats water from Big Hill reservoir. Sam holds a Kansas Class IV Water Operator Certification and KRWA Rural Water Manager of the year in 2003.  PWWSD #4 won the 2003 KRWA Great American Water Taste Test and was the 2007 winner of the Capacity Development Achievement Award.  Sam also serves as Secretary of the Kansas Rural Water Board of Directors and represents small municipal customers on the Public Water Supply Committee of the Kansas Water Authority.  He is Past President of KS FFA Alumni  and is currently serving as Past President of the National FFA Alumni Association. Sam is a Graduate of Fort Hays State University.

Eric A. Bernard, RLA, ASLA - Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Kansas State University

Professor Bernard is a licensed landscape architect whose teaching, research and project contributions focus on holistic environmental and ecological planning and design and Geographic Information Science, GIS and LiDAR. Professional works have earned recognition from the American Society of Landscape Architecture (Honor Award in the ecology and sustainability categories to Design Workshop, Inc. in 2000) and the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) (Special Achievement Award in GIS to K-State in 2005). 

Professor Bernard collaborates with over 50 researchers across 6 colleges at K-State, 4 universities and with state agencies on projects focusing on interactions between human and natural systems and coupled models. Professor Bernard chairs the K-State GIScience Steering Committee and serves as K-State delegate to the University Consortium of GIScience, and on the State of Kansas GIS Policy Board.

DR. SHARON BILLINGS joined KU’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Kansas Biological Survey in 2003. She specializes in understanding how carbon, nitrogen, and water move through terrestrial ecosystems, with a focus on the influence of anthropogenic activity on the cycling of these resources. For example, she studies how rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide and changing precipitation patterns influence forest and grassland soils.  She explores whether soils retain their stocks of organic carbon, or whether organic carbon is released back to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide via soil microbial activity, as well as the processes that generate nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gase. She also uses tree-rings to establish patterns of tree growth where rainfall is relatively limited. In addition, she is interested in understanding how land use change (i.e. forest growth on grassland soil, or planting crops on former grasslands) influences the amount and timing of a landscape's uptake and release of carbon.

Prior to coming to KU, Dr. Billings was a research assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, where she also was a postdoctoral scholar. Dr. Billings received her doctorate from Duke University in 1998, her Master's degree from Duke in 1996, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Hampshire in 1991.

Humberto Blanco, assistant professor in soils at the Agricultural Research Center-Hays, joined the Center in 2008. His research work deals with soil management with an emphasis on applied soil physics. He is conducting basic and applied research for a better understanding of soil-water-plant relationships under different scenarios of tillage, crop, and residue management systems. His specific areas of research interest involve soil hydrology, structure, compaction, fertility, and carbon dynamics in relation to crop production and ecosystem functions. He is also assessing the implications of corn, sorghum, and wheat residue removal as feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production.

• B.S. Ag Engineering/Soil Science, Technical University of Oruro, Bolivia, 1990

• M.S. Soil Science, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1995

• Ph.D. Soil Science, University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003

Nathaniel Brunsell has been an assistant professor of Geography at the University of Kansas since 2004. He specializes in biosphere-atmosphere interactions and the linkages between climate, vegetation and hydrology. His recent research has focused on examining GCM output for Kansas and compared them to observations from the 20th century, processes surrounding soil moisture-precipitation feedbacks, and regional aspects related to global change. He conducts his research using field observations, remote sensing/GIS and climate models. He received his PhD in 2003 from Utah State University in Biometeorology. In addition, he has a BS from University of New Mexico in Earth and Planetary Sciences in 1997. Prior to beginning at KU, Dr. Brunsell was a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University. 

Rex Buchanan grew up near Little River, in Rice County, Kansas, on the edge of the Smoky Hills.  He has an undergraduate degree from Kansas Wesleyan University and graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been at the Kansas Geological Survey, based at the University of Kansas, since 1978, and is currently the Deputy Director. He is the co-author of Roadside Kansas: A Guide to its Geology and Landmarks  (1987) and editor of Kansas Geology: An Introduction to Landscapes, Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils  (1984), both published by the University Press of Kansas; co-author of The Canyon Revisited: A Rephotography of the Grand Canyon, 1923-1991, published by the University of Utah Press (1994); co-editor of Geowriting, published by the American Geological Institute (1995); and co-compiler of Kansas Groundwater, published by the Kansas Geological Survey (1993).  He has been president of the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education, the Kansas Academy of Science, and the Association of Earth Science Editors.  In 2008 he was named a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.

David Combs is currently the Chief of Planning Branch with the Kansas City District, Corps of Engineers.  As Planning Chief, he is responsible for the plan formulation, environmental, and economic studies on all civil works water resource projects within Kansas City District.  David is a native of Kentucky but his professional career has taken him to Oklahoma, Illinois, and currently to Kansas City, Missouri.  His academic background includes a BS and MS in fisheries biology from Eastern Kentucky University and post-graduate work in Environmental Engineering from Oklahoma State University.  Prior to joining the Corps of Engineers, David served as a research biologist for 10 years with the State of Oklahoma.  As a member of the Corps of Engineers, David has served in various technical and supervisory environmental and planning positions at Chicago and Tulsa Districts prior to becoming Chief of Planning at Kansas City District.  David has served as the Planning Chief and as the congressional liaison for Kansas City District since 2003 and has over 25 years of civil and military environmental planning and compliance experience with the Corps of Engineers.

MR. MICHAEL DEPUE is a Vice President with PBS&J’s Floodplain Hazards Management Group.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in 13 states, and a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM).  Mr. DePue served as a subject matter expert for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Interagency Levee Policy Review Committee in 2006, and provided technical support to the California Department of Water Resources Central Valley Flooding Independent Review Panel in 2007.   He was a content reviewer for the 2007 FEMA Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico Coastal Flood Mapping Guidelines Update.  Mr. DePue has managed over 75 countywide Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) projects and 17,000 Letter of Map Change (LOMC) reviews.  He is author, co-author, or contributor to over 20 papers and more than 70 presentations and seminars on water resources issues.  Mr. DePue’s experience includes one- and two-dimensional modeling for riverine and coastal flood and scour studies, as well as design of stormwater systems for highway and land development projects.  Mr. DePue received an M.S. in Civil (Hydrosystems) Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Clemson University, and has been with PBS&J since 1996. 

MARTIN DUBOIS, Ph.D. - VP, Geology, EOR & Co-founder.  Martin specializes in field-scale reservoir characterization and carbon management through value-added carbon sequestration. Martin was most recently a research geologist for the Kansas Geological Survey (eight years) where he was involved in the DOE funded CO2 enhanced oil recovery project in Kansas that used CO2 from an ethanol plant. Prior to the KGS, he had twenty years petroleum industry experience with John O. Farmer, Inc. and Cities Service Oil Company. Martin has a BS in geophysics from Kansas State University and a MS and PhD in geology from the University of Kansas. Martin is a Licensed Geologist in the State of Kansas and an AAPG Certified Petroleum Geologist.

Bill Eastman grew up south of Wichita, attending the Haysville schools.  After graduating High School he went on to study at Wichita State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 1977. 

After receiving his degree, Mr. Eastman began his 32-year electric utility career with Kansas Gas & Electric, in Wichita at the Gordon Evans Energy Center, near Colwich, Kansas.  After 3 years in power plant water and chemistry issues, he moved downtown to develop a new technical group focused on system-wide chemistry and environmental related issues.

At the 1992 merger of KGE and KPL, forming what is now known as Westar Energy, Mr. Eastman became a part of the Environmental Services Department.  In 1997 he was appointed to the position of Manager, Air Programs.  From there, he took over Environmental Services Department as Director in 2001.  The positions responsibilities account for all environmental issues within the Westar system.

Mr. Eastman, married 34 years, has 3 grown daughters and two grandchildren.  With his leisure time spent with family and friends at the Flint Hills family farm.

Mark Edge Water Utilization Lead - Monsanto - Mark is responsible for leading the commercial introduction of Mosanto’s biotech corn drought trait and the development of our commercial business related to water management issues.

Prior to Mark’s current role, he was the Europe & Africa Marketing Lead managing the marketing team to define and implement the regional consolidated marketing strategy for Seeds & Traits in Europe and Africa.  He has been the Global Cotton Product Manager responsible for the business management, licensing and introduction of Monsanto’s cotton technologies in the U.S. and globally.  He helped manage the launch of Bollgard II and Roundup Ready Flex cotton technologies and was also responsible for helping start Cotton States, a new business unit for licensing cotton germplasm in the U.S.  He has also held roles as Director of Trait Marketing for Monsanto’s Corn licensing business at Corn States.  His background includes experience in biotech research; many aspects of managing seed business development as well as the grain export business.  He has a B.S. from Iowa State University, a M.S. in Genetics from the University of California at Davis, and an MBA from Drake University.  

Johannes Feddema is a climate scientist investigating the interactions between human activities at the Earth’s surface and climate.  This interest developed at a young age when, growing up in the Europe, Africa and Asia, he observed first hand the impacts of climate on society.  Presently a professor in the department of Geography at the University of Kansas, he obtained a B.A. degree in Biology and Geography, an M.S. degree in Geography and a Ph.D. degree in Climatology from the University of Delaware.  Early in his career he used water balance models to simulate climate impacts on water resources, and studied the climate impacts of land-use change and human induced soil degradation.  To better understand the feedbacks in the coupled human climate system he began to conduct similar experiments in Global Climate Models (GCMs).  He is now working to create models and databases to assess the impacts of anthropogenic land cover change, urbanization and soil degradation on climate in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Global Climate Models.  He has published in a variety of journals including Climate Research, Climate Dynamics, Climatic Change and Science and was a contributing author to the fourth IPCC report.  Since 2006 he has held an Affiliate Scientist appointment with NCAR and was recently appointed to the Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy advisory group by the Governor of Kansas.  He has recently contributed to a report on the potential impacts of climate change on Kansas at

 http://www.climateandenergy.org/LearnMore/InTheNews/ClimateStudy.htm

Dan Filbert of Macksville is the president and owner of Crop Management Inc., a business he started in `1987. His crop consulting career began in 1981 after graduation from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Crop Protection. Filbert is a Certified Professional Crop Consultant.

Filbert is a member of the Lower Arkansas Basin Advisory Committee and a member of the Kansas Association of Independent Crop Consultants and the National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants.

Jim French, a fifth-generation farmer and rancher, grew up in Reno County, Kansas. He farms land homesteaded by his great-great grandparents in 1871. He and his wife, Lisa, took over management of the operation in 1979. Their operation has received national and regional recognition and awards for conservation and innovation. Jim and Lisa have been dedicated volunteers in their community, and in state organizations.

From 1998 to 2004, French worked as a communications specialist and policy analyst with the Kansas Rural Center. French published widely in the regional farm press, and helped organize numerous conferences and workshops. He continues to produce a monthly radio program on WIBW out of Topeka.

 In 2005, French scaled back his farming and ranching activities in order to take a position as the Advocacy Lead for the Agriculture Campaign at Oxfam America. Oxfam is an international development agency that focuses primarily on addressing hunger and poverty in the world’s poorest nations. Currently, French focuses on the development of policies that can assist smallholder agriculture in developing nations become more resilient in the face of climate change and food insecurity.

Bill Golden, Research Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Kansas State University. Bill Golden is an assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture Economics at Kansas State University. He primarily assists farmers, policy makers, and other stakeholders throughout Kansas in developing and implementing policies aimed at irrigation water conservation. He also works extensively with land-water-related issues such as valuing irrigation water rights. Current research and extension efforts are evaluating producer and community impacts associated with alternative water conservation policies.

NANCY JACKSON directs the Climate & Energy Project of The Land Institute. Jackson earned a master’s degree in environmental history from KU and for ten years published scholarly books on the Development of Western Resources at the University Press of Kansas. She serves on the Kansas Energy & Environmental Policy advisory group, the Kansas Wind Working Group, and the Midwestern Governors Association Low Carbon Fuel Standard advisory group.

Earl Lewis is the Assistant Director of the Kansas Water Office the state’s water planning and coordination agency.  The Kansas Water Office is a policy development and planning agency that provides research and analytical staff support to the Governor, and the Legislature on water resource issues.  The agency manages and market water under state control within federal reservoirs.

Lewis Graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering in 1992, and has been a licensed professional engineer since 1998.

He worked with the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources prior to joining the Kansas Water Office.  Lewis initially worked with the statewide water use reporting program, compliance and enforcement of water rights, water right administration and review and approval of water conservation and drought plans.  He worked with the Subbasin Water Resources Management Program developing alternative management programs for over appropriated groundwater areas.

Lewis also worked with the State’s Interstate Water Issues Team dealing with interstate compact compliance and litigation and served on the Republican River Compact Engineering Committee. 

Lewis and his wife Shari live in Topeka and have two sons. 

Doug Louis, Director, Oil and Gas Conservation Division, Kansas Corporation Commission, State of Kansas, in Mr. Louis’ current position he manages the state agency which regulates Kansas’ oil and gas exploration and production activities. The Division also regulates underground natural gas storage facilities and over 16,000 Class II disposal wells. Mr. Louis led a workgroup which drafted regulation for CO2 sequestration in Kansas. He is currently leading another workgroup in developing regulations for compressed air energy storage activities. Previous to his working at the KCC he was an exploration geologist for various independent oil and gas companies. Mr. Louis is a licensed geologist who earned a B.S. in Geology and a MBA from Wichita State University.

Dr. Edward A. Martinko is the State Biologist & Director of the Kansas Biological Survey (KBS), Director of the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS) Program, and Professor of Ecology & Environmental Studies at The University of Kansas.  The Kansas Biological Survey is a non-regulatory state research agency that provides scientific expertise and support to Kansas agencies and the Kansas Legislature.  Dr. Martinko develops, implements, and conducts biological and interdisciplinary research programs on ecological and environmental issues with a special emphasis on the utilization of remote sensing applications and geographic information systems (GIS) technologies in response to the needs of the public and private sector in the State of Kansas.  His research interests focus on landscape ecology and land use change, with a particular emphasis on human impacts on the environment as reflected in habitat quality and habitat fragmentation.

Dr. Martinko received his B.S. in chemistry and in biology from the College of Emporia, his M.A. in physiology from the University of Colorado, and his Ph.D. in Entomology (Ecology) at the University of Kansas.  He has been on the faculty of the University of Kansas for more than 30 years and has served as the Director of the KBS for 26 years and as Director of the KARS Program for 28 years.

Jared Morrison, Manager, Water Programs, Westar Energy, after graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in Chemical Engineering, Jared spent seven years working for Trinity Consultants, Inc, an environmental consulting firm located in the greater Kansas City area.  As a senior consultant at Trinity, Jared focused on environmental permitting, multimedia environmental compliance auditing, and environmental management system (EMS) development and implementation.  Jared joined Westar Energy in late 2008 with the primary responsibilities of EMS development and implementation as well as regulatory compliance for Westar's coal combustion by-product solid waste landfills.  In December 2009, Jared assumed the role of Manager, Water Programs with responsibility for Westar's compliance with environmental water regulations.

DAN NAGENGAST is the Director of the Kansas Rural Center. He grew up on a dry land wheat farm in Western Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska and Columbia University School of Law. He worked in New York City and then Boston, before moving to West Africa and serving with Peace Corps and Church World Service for seven years in several countries. He returned to the U.S. in 1984, and continued working for Church World Service as Kansas Region Director. He began market gardening vegetables and fresh cut flowers with his wife, Lynn Byczynski and helped to organize one of the first Organic Crop Improvement Association Chapters in Kansas and the first cooperative Community Supported Agriculture project in the country. He became Director of the Kansas Rural Center in 1991, and has organized numerous marketing projects serving small farmers. He has directed projects investigating antibiotic resistance in livestock and promoting value-added processing for smaller farms. He is active in organizing Farm to Cafeteria projects and KRC has increasingly become the service and training hub for the state’s Farmers Markets. He served as Co-Chair of the Governor Sebelius’ Rural Life Task Force, and in that capacity lead a joint trip with the Kansas Energy Office to visit Southwest Minnesota community wind projects in 2005. He is the Facilitator of the National Renewable Energy Lab - DOE funded Wind for Schools Project in Kansas and serves on the Governor’s Wind Working Group. He also currently Chairs the Kansas Food Policy Council. He assists his wife in producing her monthly newsletter, “Growing for Market”, and they still grow and market fresh cut flowers and tomatoes from low-cost hoop houses with some field production. www.kansasruralcenter.org  www.growingformarket.com

DR. CHARLES PERRY is currently a Research Hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. My education includes a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Kansas State University in 1970, a Master of Science  in Water Resources Science from Kansas University, and a PhD  from the  Physics and Astronomy and Civil Engineering departments also at KU.  I started my career as a U.S. Air Force Meteorologist in 1970, became a hydrologist for the USGS in 1975, and have performed research on the causes of floods and droughts in the United States since 1981 in addition to many other duties for the USGS, located in Lawrence, Ks.

TOM SCHREMPP, Director of Production, is responsible for all aspects of water production from the Water District’s source, treatment, pumping and storage facilities.  Mr. Schrempp is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.  He has been with the Water District for over 18 years and has previously held the position of Assistant Director of Operations/Production.  Mr. Schrempp has over 33 years of engineering experience including one year with a state health department, over six years with a consulting engineering firm, and eight years working for municipal governments.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.  He is also a Class IV Water Operator in the State of Kansas.  Mr. Schrempp is a member of the American Water Works Association, National Society of Professional Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Water Environment Federation.  He has co-authored several papers presented at state and national AWWA conferences and has served on several Project Advisory Committees for AWWA Research Foundation Projects.  He is a member of the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce and alumni of the Leadership Lenexa Program.  Mr. Schrempp is the Water District’s representative to MO-ARK, the Kansas River Alliance, and the Missouri River Public Water Supply Association - organizations representing the water resource interests of the region; and serves on the Board of Directors of the Kansas River Water Assurance District.

Lori Schultz is a hydrologist with the National Weather Service at the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center [MBRFC] in Pleasant Hill Missouri. 

Prior to working for the MBRFC Lori worked for the NWS in Wilmington Ohio at the Ohio River Forecast Center.  She is a climate focal point for the MBRFC and has developed hydrologic and hydraulic models for the National Weather Service and the US Army Corps of Engineers in Mobile Alabama.  Additionally she has worked with the Corps and USAID in Honduras to develop hydrologic models for the Hurricane Mitch Recovery project.

 Lori received her B.S in chemistry from Cal State (SSU) as well as a hydrology degree.  She has also worked with the National Park Service on karst hydrology projects in connection with Western Kentucky University - Karst and Cave studies department.

Dennis F. Schwartz of Tecumseh, Kansas, has been the general manager of Shawnee County Rural Water District No. 8 since 1976. He served as a member of the Kansas Water Authority from 1986-1999, was reappointed in 2004, and continues to serve.  Schwartz was the 2008 Kansas Water Authority Fox Award winner.  Schwartz is the Director of the Kansas Rural Water Association serving from 1977 - present and has served as their President from 1983-1986, 1993-1996, and 2006 to present.  

Schwartz was the President of the National Rural Water Association from 2000 to 2002 and currently serves as the Director since 1992.

Schwartz also served as a member of the Water Industry Coordinating Council from 1996-2002 and served as a member on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Drinking Water Advisory Council from 1999-2005.

Tracy Streeter is the Director of the Kansas Water Office, the state’s water planning and coordination agency.  Streeter was appointed to the position by Governor Kathleen Sebelius in 2004.  Previously, he served as Executive Director of the State Conservation Commission. Tracy has 24 years of experience dealing with Kansas’ water resources.  Streeter also represents the State of Kansas on the Missouri River Association of States and Tribes (MoRAST) Board of Directors and currently serves as Secretary.

A native Kansan, he grew up as part of a family farming operation in Brown County.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from Missouri Western State University and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Kansas.

Streeter and his wife, Denise reside in Valley Falls, KS and have two children, Mitchell and Morgan. He served eight years on the Valley Falls Board of Education and enjoys flying, hunting, fishing and golfing.

JOSH SVATY was appointed acting secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture by Governor Mark Parkinson in July 2009.

Svaty is the fifth generation of his family to farm in Ellsworth County.  The Svaty farm is a diversified operation in the heart of the Smoky Hills that includes wheat, milo, soybeans, corn, sunflowers, a cow/calf herd and sheep. 

Svaty served as the State Representative of the 108th District in Kansas for seven years.  He served on the committees for Energy and Utilities; was the ranking member on Agriculture and Natural Resources; and on the joint committee on Energy and Environmental Policy. Svaty also was a governor’s appointee to the Kansas Energy Council, a public/private group of individuals tasked with providing guidance on the state’s energy policy.   He has spoken nationally and has testified before the United States Congress on matters of energy, agriculture and water policy. He also serves on the national advisory council for his alma mater, Sterling College.  Svaty graduated from Sterling College in 2002 with a bachelor of arts degree in history.

As a young farmer, Svaty hopes to bring attention to one of the biggest challenges in agriculture − finding ways for young people to return to the farm and make a living in agriculture.

Svaty is married to Kimberly, who owns her own public affairs company.  They have a son, Jackson.