A New Water Ethic for the 21st Century?

Third Annual Spring Seminar 2010

Featuring Keynote Speaker Celeste Cantú

General Mananger

Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority



Location:  Beckman Center

100 Academy, Irvine, CA 92617 (adjacent to the UC Irvine campus)

A panel discussion with professional women in water-related fields and light reception to follow



There is no charge for this program, but reservations are encouraged.

Please R.S.V.P. to wcooper@uci.edu or (949) 824-5620



Abstract:

There has never has there been a more important time than now to take a systems or watershed approach to meet our water challenges in the Santa Ana River Watershed. With a fiscal crises and a water crises, now is the time to set aside our specific job titles, become citizens of the Watershed, collaborate across boundaries, and create a new shared vision of how the Santa Ana Watershed works in order to enjoy a sustainable water supply, improve water quality, manage storm flows, all the most affordable way possible. This framework for addressing Integrated Regional Watershed Management Planning will be hard work for all sectors but will also bring tremendous rewards. We will need to think big!



About the Speaker:

Celeste Cantú joined the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) three years ago, and she has been working on developing the Crest to Coast, Corner to Corner Integrated Regional Watershed Management Plan called One Water, One Watershed (OWOW) that addresses all water-related issues, joins all entities, and hundreds of stakeholders seeking to create a new vision of sustainability for the Santa Ana River Watershed. SAWPA also owns and operates the Santa Ana River Interceptor, a large brine line utility. Before that, Cantú served as the executive director for the California State Water Resources Control Board, which is responsible for water rights and water quality for the State. Prior to that she was an appointee in the Clinton Administration and served as the USDA Rural Development State Director for California.



Cantú was born and raised in the Imperial Valley to a pioneer family. There, she served first as planning director for her hometown, Calexico, and later as executive director for the Imperial Valley Housing Authority. Celeste has a B.A. degree from Yale in urban planning and policy, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She lives in Temecula with her husband Dr. Barry Stampfl, an English Professor at SDSU, Imperial Valley Campus. They have two sons, Jay and Jack, both undergraduates and water polo players at UC Berkeley.