California's Water Future: What Lies Ahead

For Day 2 of AWWEE's conference, Lillian Kawasaki invited Sue Sims, Chief Deputy of the California Department of Water Resources; Grace Chan, Manager of Resource Planning and Development for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; and Kimery Wiltshire, CEO and Director of Carpe Diem West, to conduct this dialogue.

Meet Lillian and her water panel

Lillian Kawasaki is the elected Director of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) representing Division 3. WRD manages the groundwater for 4 million people in 43 cities in Southeast Los Angeles County (more than 10% of the State’s population). Lillian is also on the Board and Executive Team of Carpe Diem West: Western Water and Climate Change Project, a multidisciplinary science-based initiative fostering new approaches to water resources management in light of climate change.

Prior to her retirement from the City of Los Angeles, Lillian served as the Assistant General Manager of Environmental Affairs for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and as General Manager of the Community Development and Environmental Affairs Departments. Lillian is Vice President of California Groundwater Coalition, an Alternate Commissioner on Greater Los Angeles Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), and actively involved in clean tech and green jobs/ workforce training.

Committed to community service, Lillian is co-chair of Friends of Manzanar, dedicated to preserving Manzanar National Historic Site, where 10,000 Japanese Americans were interned during World War II.

GChan Grace Chan is responsible for preparing MWD’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), including the development of strategies for implementing the IRP such as water transfers and exchanges, and groundwater conjunctive use. She also prepares state required planning documents such as the Urban Water Management Plan and the annual report to the state legislature on MWD’s achievements in water conservation, recycling and groundwater recharge. She represents MWD on statewide and national planning activities such as the advisory committee of the California Water Plan Updates and the USGS Water Census Initiative. Prior to joining MWD, Grace worked at an engineering consulting firm performing water and wastewater planning studies, supporting watermasters’ activities on local water rights issues, and preparing water resource sections for various environmental documents.

Sue Sims advises and assists the Director in developing and implementing departmental policies, and managing many of the day to day administrative, communications and programmatic activities. She also serves as Executive Director for the California Water Commission, a nine-member board appointed by the Governor with policymaking and oversight responsibilities for a broad range of water management activities and projects in the state. Sue has been with DWR since 2006 and previously worked as its Public Affairs Director. Her state career began as a speechwriter for Governor George Deukmejian. She also served as the Governor’s Deputy Cabinet Secretary focusing on budget, education and natural resources policies. She later worked at the California Environmental Protection Agency for thirteen years.

Kimery Wiltshire is CEO and Director of Carpe Diem West, a non-profit dedicated to finding smart, science-based solutions to the impacts of the growing climate crisis on water in the American West. For over 20 years, Kimery's work has focused on building strategic, solution-oriented partnerships to meet environmental challenges. Kimery is the former Director of the Kenney Foundation where she worked on initiatives to protect and restore river systems in the western U.S. Kimery has led the development of a number of successful projects, including the Diversity Network Project, supporting social justice and housing in the context of urban environmental health; Resources for Community Collaboration, which provided funding and training for western rural communities to more effectively engage in resource decision making; the Sustainable Business Ratings System, an innovative means of assessing companies' environmental, economic and social performance; and Girl Scouts Save the Bay, which grew to involve the 100,000-strong Northern California Girl Scout community.