Colorado Front Range Region

Sarah Anderson, Water Quality Project Manager – Policy, Planning & Sustainability, Denver Department of Public Works. Sarah has worked as professional project manager for over 15 years in the field of natural resource management with proven success in bridging the gap between environmental protection and land development.  Sarah has exemplified leadership in the area of water quality/green infrastructure planning and innovation and has the ability to move programs, plans and projects forward even when policy barriers are present. Sarah develops and maintains partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to help improve the quality of stormwater runoff from Denver’s urban watersheds and recently developed Denver’s first Ultra-Urban Green Infrastructure Guide. She also recently received Denver’s honorable ‘5281 Stars’ Sustainability Award from Mayor Hancock.  Sarah received her B.S. in forestry from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Kevin Bommer – Deputy Director, Colorado Municipal League. Kevin is responsible for handling special projects at CML, managing the legislative program, as well as advocating municipal interests before the state legislature. His issues include urban renewal; severance tax and federal mineral lease; marijuana; beer and liquor; pensions; water and wastewater; employment and labor; and other issues of municipal interest. He also assists in training and answering inquiries for other municipal officials on various topics. Kevin joined the League in 1999.

Devon Buckels – Director, The Water Connection. – Devon Buckels is a civic-minded Denver native.  Her decades of work in the public, private and non-profit sectors has focused on creating healthy and sustainable communities.  She has a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a Certification in Sustainability Leadership and Implementation from the Daniels College of Business.  Devon is excited to serve as The Greenway Foundation’s lead policy and water resources staff as Director of The Water Connection, supporting innovation in thought and practice for resilient Colorado watersheds.

Tom Cech, Director – One Water One World Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship, Metropolitan State University of Denver.  Tom was born and raised on a farm near Clarkson, Nebraska, graduated from Kearney State College with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Math Education, and later received a Master’s Degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He was Executive Director of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District in Greeley, taught undergraduate and graduate level water resources courses at the University of Northern Colorado and Colorado State University, and is now the Director of the One World One Water (OWOW) Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship at MSU Denver.

Melanie Criswell – Senior Review Engineer, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.  Melanie Criswell P.E. has over 15 years of experience in the drinking water and wastewater industry.  She has a MS from Colorado State University and a BS from the University of Colorado at Boulder in civil/environmental engineering.

David Erickson – Environmental Land Use and Planning Section, Denver Environmental Health.  David was a lead figure in the creation of Denver’s Climate Adaptation Plan published in June 2014. David worked extensively with other agencies to develop and implement multiple programs identified to help the City adapt to impacts of climate change including increasing urban heat island effect, increasing extreme weather events and changes in snow pack.  David holds a Master of Science degree in Microbiology from Colorado State University.

Greg Fisher – Manager of Demand Planning, Denver Water.  Greg has been with Denver Water for over 16 years, serving as a Rate Analyst, the Budget Manager for a year, and the Manager of Demand Planning for past 12 years.  Greg has led Denver Water’s effort to plan not only for population growth, but also consider climate change, economic variability, changes in environmental attitudes, water use patterns, government regulations, new industries, droughts and other factors in planning scenarios.  Denver Water is a leader in scenario planning for future water needs recognizing that using past conditions may not represent our future. Greg is also serving as the lead for the collaborative project with CSU to create a water network at the National Western complex in Denver. He earned his B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College.

Basil Hamdan – Stormwater Quality Engineer at City of Fort Collins.  Basil has been a Professional Engineer with the City of Fort Collins for eight years and is currently responsible for updating stormwater regulations to meet federal state and local standards. He is also in charge of implementing Low Impact Development policies, stormwater quality monitoring network management and application of GIS to stormwater quality management and has worked as a stormwater engineering professional for over 25 years. He received his Bachelor of Engineering from the American University in Beirut and his M.S. in Civil Engineering, Hydrology and Water Resource Management from Colorado State University.

Bret Icenogle – Engineering Section Manager, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Bret Icenogle is the Engineer Section Manager for the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.  Prior to joining the State of Colorado, Mr. Icenogle worked as a water and wastewater engineering consultant and project manager.  He holds active professional engineering licenses in California and Colorado and earned a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering and a M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Tracy Kaye – Public Health Coordinator, Westwood Unidos.  Tracy holds a Masters degree in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she focused on the research and development of social and behavioral change interventions.  She has experience working internationally in Latin America, East Africa and Southeast Asia where she managed HIV/AIDS prevention programs, improved water and sanitation, and implemented health and nutrition services conflict settings. Upon returning to Colorado she led the Healthy Places Initiative to improve community health through changes in the built environment and green infrastructure in the Westwood Neighborhood. She most recently joined the Cavities Get Around campaign aimed at eradicating childhood tooth decay, and she looks forward to working with schools to form wellness committees and implement healthy beverage and snack policies.

Jim McQuarrie – Chief Innovation Officer, Metro Wastewater Reclamation of Denver.  Jim McQuarrie, Chief Innovation Officer, Metro Wastewater Reclamation of Denver  Jim’s role with MWRD Denver is to direct the organization’s innovation process and culture. Jim identifies strategies, processes, opportunities, and new technologies to address regulatory and other high-impact issues facing the District and/or to meet other business objectives. He develops the organizational capabilities and capacity to pursue and benefit from innovation for the ultimate benefit of the rate payers and the communities he serves.  Jim graduated from Rutgers – New Brunswick.

Gabriela Medina – Health Worker, Westwood Unidos.  Mi nombre es Gabriela Medina. Soy de la Ciudad de México. Soy madre de un niño de 11 años y una niña de 10 años.  Vivo en el vecindario de Westwood al Suroeste de Denver Co.  Soy una promotora de salud y estoy trabajando en una campaña sobre prevención de caries. Llevando un taller a la comunidad donde hablamos de la importancia de cuidar los dientes de leche, limitar las bebidas azucaradas y beber más agua. También hablamos sobre los beneficios de beber el agua de la llave. Como madre me preocupa la salud de los niños y este fue uno de los motivos que me llevo a unirme a esta importante campana. Me llena de mucha alegría que al terminar un taller los Padres se llevan el mensaje y esa es una semilla que vamos dejando en nuestro camino con la confianza que cosecharemos importa cambios en nuestra comunidad.

My name is Gabriela Medina. I am from Mexico City. I am a mother of a 11-year-old boy and a 10 year-old girl.  I live in the neighborhood Westwood Southwest of Denver, CO.  I am a health worker and I’m working on a campaign on the prevention of cavities.  Taking a workshop to the community where we talk about the importance of caring for baby teeth, limit sugary drinks and drink more water. We also talk about the benefits of drinking tap water.  As a mother I worry about the health of children and this was one of the reasons that led me to join this important campaign. It fills me with great joy that at the end of a workshop parents take the message and that is a seed that we leave on our way with confidence that we will reap important changes in our community.

Patrick Pfaltzgraff – Director Water Quality Control Division, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.  Patrick is the director of the Water Quality Control Division (WQCD), a division within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).  The WQCD has approximately 190 employees and an average annual budget of $30M.  The WQCD is comprised of the following programs: Clean Water Program, Drinking Water Program, and Administrations Program.  The WQCD is delegated authority to implement the federal Clean Water Act, and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Thus, the WQCD is responsible for the protection of the state’s rivers, creeks, lakes, reservoirs, and ground water, and for assuring that Colorado’s citizens are provided safe and continuous drinking water from over 2,000 public water systems in the state.  The WQCD is also responsible for executing hundreds of millions of dollars in public infrastructure grants and loans under the State Revolving Fund program.  Patrick also provides high-level policy advice to the department’s executive director and governor regarding major water quality policy matters, and is a state representative to the Western States Water Council and the Colorado River Salinity Control Forum.  Patrick holds degrees from the University of Nebraska (BA and JD), the George Washington University (LL.M.), and the University of Denver (MBA).

Holly Piza – Project Manager of Master Planning, Urban Drainage Holly Piza has been with the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District for 7 years.  Her work is focused on criteria promulgation and stormwater quality research.  Prior to joining UDFCD, she worked as a water resources consulting engineer for 13 years. She received a BS from the University of Florida and is a Professional Engineer.  She chairs the Stormwater Quality Committee for the Colorado Association of Stormwater and Floodplain Managers. She’s also very active with EWRI, currently chairing a task committee related to maintenance of green infrastructure.

Dr. Florine P. Raitano – Director of Partnership Development & Innovation, Denver Regional Council of Governments.  Flo has extensive experience in local government and public service.  She was twice elected the mayor of Dillon, served as the first executive director of the Colorado Rural Development Council, the executive director of the I-70 Coalition, and appointed to the Technical Advisory Committee for the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Finance and Implementation.  She has worked on several HUD Sustainable Communities projects in Virginia and Louisiana.  At DRCOG, she has been involved with the organization’s Sustainable Communities Initiative grant from HUD and Metro Vision 2040 regional plan activities. Flo currently serves as the Director of Partnership Development and Innovation at DRCOG.

Reagan Waskom – Director , CSU Colorado Water Institute.  Reagan currently serves as the Director of the Colorado Water Institute and the Chair of the Colorado State University Water Center. Dr. Waskom is a member of the Department of Soil & Crop Sciences at CSU, where he has worked on various water related research and outreach programs for the past 30 years, conducting statewide educational and applied research programs on water quality, water quantity, water policy and natural resource issues related to water use. His current teaching responsibility at CSU is for GRAD592 the Graduate Water Resources Seminar. In addition, Dr. Waskom oversees the CSU Extension Water Outreach program and personnel. Dr. Waskom’s current research emphasis is on the integrated use of surface and groundwater in the S. Platte Basin, the impacts of shale gas development on water resources, and agricultural water conservation in the Colorado River basin. Reagan received his BS and MS degrees from Texas A&M University and his PhD from Colorado State University.

Kevin Reidy – Water Conservation Technical Specialist, Colorado Water Conservation Board.  Kevin is responsible for providing technical assistance to water providers and water users throughout Colorado in the development and implementation of water conservation planning programs. Other areas of responsibility include: reviewing water conservation plans and developing water conservation planning tools, performing research and analysis of existing water conservation planning and implementation efforts, coordinating and implementing efforts to improve water conservation planning and research statewide.  Kevin earned his B.S. in Recreation Resource Management from Colorado State University and his M.S. in Forest Ecology and Management from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.