Location: Mountaineers Seattle Program Center
7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA
AWRA-WA welcomes you to join us for an interdisciplinary investigation of Washington water resource management. This year’s conference will delve into several key Washington State Supreme Court decisions as well as recent legislation to evaluate how water management in our state may be required to adapt to meet stresses from development pressures and water use.
Our keynote speaker will be Leon Szeptycki, from the Stanford Woods Institute. His work includes issues related to stream flow restoration in the context of western water law and increasing human demands.
Check out the program here!
Keynote Speaker - Leon Szeptycki is Professor of the Practice - Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and Executive Director - Water in the West. Water in the West is an interdisciplinary research program that engages Stanford in developing solutions to water scarcity and water management challenges in the American West.
Leon is an attorney who specializes in water quality, water use and watershed restoration. His work includes issues related to stream flow restoration in the context of the western appropriative rights system, sustainable groundwater management, and restoration of aquatic species. Over his career, Leon has worked on a broad range of matters related to the restoration of river health and water quality on a landscape scale.
From 2006 until 2012, Leon taught at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he ran the Environmental Law and Conservation Clinic and helped create an interdisciplinary course in conservation for students in the environmental sciences department and the law school. Prior to that, he spent 10 years with Trout Unlimited, a national conservation organization devoted to the protection and restoration of trout and salmon rivers. While at Trout Unlimited, Leon helped develop innovative legal and policy tools for voluntary watershed restoration by a variety of means, include dam removal and reclamation of abandoned mine sites. He has also worked in private law practice and at the U.S. Department of Justice. Leon received his B.A. from the University of Kansas and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
In 2016, Leon was appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown to the Board of Directors of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, an organization formed in 2016 whose sole purpose is to oversee the removal of four dams on the upper Klamath river.
Check out the presentations here!President's Address
Jason McCormick -- State of AWRA-WA Section
Keynote Presentation
Leon Szeptycki -- Managing Water in a Changing West: Early Lessons from California
Session 1
Alan Reichman -- The Supreme Court’s Decision in Hirst – and the 2018 Streamflow Restoration Act
Lauren King -- Hirst, Foster, Boldt, and Beyond: Indian Law Preceding RCW Chapter 90.94
Patrick Williams -- Sara Foster v. Ecology and Yelm
Session 2
Mike Hermanson -- WRIA 55 RCW 90.94 Watershed Plan Update
Gary Stoyka -- Implementing the Streamflow Restoration Act in WRIA 1
Session 3
Kiza Gates -- Assessing Flow Restoration Projects for Benefit: Past and Present
Session 4
John Chandler -- Hydrologic Changes Over Time at the Baker Project
