Legislative Update - Joint Dinner Meeting with WA AWRA and WHS
Brian Walsh, Ecology
Brian Walsh will give an update on the Department of Ecology Water Resources Program (Ecology), including the recent legislative session and the budget. Three water resources bills passed during the session. One bill that generated a great deal of interest but did not pass was focused on groundwater permit exemption. Brian will also talk about the Water Resources budget and the progress that Ecology made on processing 500 water right decisions per last year’s budget. The talk will include a question and answer session.
Brian Walsh manages the Program Development and Operations Support Section of the Water Resources Program within the WA Department of Ecology. Among the responsibilities of the section is development of rules for the protection of instream flows, water resource legislation, climate change adaptation, aquifer storage recovery, water acquisition, and technical support for watershed planning. Brian has 25-years of experience working within the Department of Ecology on a variety of natural resource policy issues including watershed planning, seawater intrusion, offshore oil and gas development, and enforcement policy.
In addition to his work at Ecology, Brian served for 3 years as a policy analyst with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Washington State office where he developed staff recommendations for proposed habitat and hatchery projects under the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
Following his tenure with the NPCC, Brian accepted a position with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife where he administered several grant programs, including operational grants to Lead Entities under Washington’s Salmon Recovery Act. Through his work with Lead Entities and the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Brian gained an understanding of community and watershed-based recovery efforts for salmon habitat.
Brian began his career as a research analyst with SRAC, a management consulting firm in Washington DC.
Brian attended Prescott College in Arizona and he graduated from The Evergreen State College with a degree in environmental planning.
Event Details:
May 9, 2012
Social 6:00-6:30
Dinner 6:30-7:00
Presentation 7:00
Students: $5
Members: $15
Non-Members: $15
Membership is required to register for events.
Cancellation Policy: WA-AWRA will fully refund the registration fee if cancellation notice is received within 5 days of the event.
