California has endured four of the hottest and driest year on record. Despite long-term investments in sustainability, Coachella Valley residents are required to drastically cut water use. At the same time, a new California regulation called for most local agencies to adopt cutting edge, expensive treatment. With the ever-present need for not-for-profit water agencies to continue to serve reliable, high quality water, something’s got to give. Come learn why the Coachella Valley can no longer afford to have some of the lowest water rates in the state.
Kathleen J. Tiegs was elected to a two-year term as president of the Association of California Water Agencies on Dec. 2, 2015. She assumed the office Jan. 1, 2016.
She has served on the Cucamonga Valley Water District Board of Directors since 2005. During her tenure on that board, she has served as board president and vice president. Prior to her board service, she retired from a career in water resource management, working for a wholesale water agency for more than 30 years. During that time, Tiegs was instrumental in establishing the Water Education Water Awareness Committee (WEWAC), a consortium of water agencies promoting the efficient use of water, increasing public awareness, and expanding partnerships with educators to incorporate the conservation message into school curriculum.
Tiegs was elected vice president of ACWA in December 2013 after serving a two-year term as vice chair of the Federal Affairs Committee. She has served on the ACWA Local Government Committee as well as the ACWA Region 9 Board of Directors. She also currently serves on the California Special Districts Association Board of Directors and has served on the ACWA/JPIA Board of Directors.
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Adam Probolsky is CEO of Probolsky Research; a full service opinion research and strategy firm specializing in public policy and working on behalf of business, government, labor, political, media and other special interest clients. He has acted as pollster and strategic advisor on matters of public policy, legislation, elections and business. Probolsky was both a planning and finance commissioner for the city of Irvine where he oversaw and approved billions of dollars in private development and public infrastructure projects. As a past chairman of the Irvine Valley College Foundation, he has overseen the fundraising and the award of hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships to students and funding for college police. He was also a member of the Orange County Waste & Recycling Commission where he oversaw landfills, recycling programs, waste hauling companies and power generating facilities. As a member of the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Environmental Mitigation and Oversight Committee, he oversaw the expenditure of over $175 million dollars in public transportation funds. Probolsky has been published and quoted numerous times in publications such as the New York Times, Riverside Press Enterprise, the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times and Politico. Additionally, he is a regular panelist on news and public affairs television programs such as the KTLA Channel 5 Morning Show and Inside SoCal on PBS. Probolsky also wrote a weekly column for the Orange County Register for four years. He previously served as a board member and development committee chairman for Jewish Family Service of Orange County, a non-profit organization that serves families in need, and volunteered for nearly eight years with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department as a spokesperson. Probolsky formerly served as a member of the Policy Committee on Energy and the Environment of the United States Chamber of Commerce. He is an alum of the U.S. State Department funded American Council of Young Political Leaders with which he traveled to El Salvador and Nicaragua. He has also traveled to Taipei and Qatar with Congressional leaders and to Havana as part of a religious mission. Probolsky is a New Jersey native who has lived in Irvine, California for over twenty years. He is married with two daughters.
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Ken Baerenklau is an Associate Professor of Environmental Economics & Policy in the School of Public Policy and the Associate Provost at UC Riverside. He is also a Cooperating Faculty Member in the Departments of Economics and Environmental Sciences and an Adjunct Fellow in the Water Policy Center at the Public Policy Institute of California. He has served on the editorial boards for Land Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and Water Economics and Policy. He also served as the Associate Dean for Graduate Academic Affairs for UC Riverside from 2008-2012. Dr. Baerenklau has fourteen years of professional experience working on a variety of environmental policy issues including several related to water resource management. Representative projects include: policies for reducing nutrient emissions from agricultural operations; incentives to promote decentralized urban storm water capture; optimal long-term use of groundwater basins subject to salinization; effects of water quality degradation on outdoor recreation; demand and welfare effects of allocation-based water rates; and multiple on-going projects related to urban water pricing and conservation incentives. Dr. Baerenklau holds Bachelors and Master’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
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