A history-making Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners is diligently building a sustainable future for one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. The City of Los Angeles set a milestone in 2020 with the appointment of its fifth female commissioner, making it the only all-female Board in the city and the first-ever for...

With no prior experience, Jennifer Rojas’ entry into the wastewater industry may have seemed a little unconventional. Today, after more than 10 years in her chosen field, she looks back on how adapting the managerial kills she already possessed and being surrounded by her knowledgeable team helped Rojas build a solid career. “I had just...

When Joone Kim-Lopez escaped South Korea under the threat of an invasion by North Korea, she was eight years old and didn’t speak English. Although she was happy to be in a country where women have more freedom and rights, she still felt isolated. With a great deal of effort, Kim-Lopez transformed that isolation into...

Arvind  Akela, P.E.  Silicon Valley Clean Water , CWEA Vice President  5S 2016     Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers  (5S Society) is an esteemed group of people in the wastewater field and I feel very proud to be part of it. Every CWEA event I walk into; I make sure I have shovel with me and is...

Kevin Street, City of Riverside Public Works Department, Wastewater Division  How did you get your first job in the wastewater sector?  My first career oriented job was with a local air pollution control district. It afforded me the opportunity to inspect and become familiar with wastewater treatment plant processes and equipment. Wastewater quickly piqued my interest; it...

    How did you get your first job in the wastewater sector?   My entry into the wastewater sector was very unconventional.  I had been working for the City of Long Beach Water Department as the Procurement Officer for a few years already in 2014. The Sewer Superintendent was about to retire and my boss at...

Meet Cari Dale, Water Utilities Director, City of Oceanside, a recipient of the Kirt Brooks Memorial Water Environment Scholarship in 2004. Cari graduated from Cal State San Bernardino with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis on Water Resources in 2005. Her Master’s project focused on Achieving Effective Asset Management for Water and Wastewater...

Coverage of water workforce topics supported by waterTALENT Debi Lewis Past President 2017-2018 Professional Engineer Stantec Debi Lewis’ career began in business administration working for an ad agency. She started as a secretary in the Pasadena office of James M. Montgomery, which later became MWH and is now Stantec. Eventually she became an office manager...

Shannon Simmers has covered a lot of ground in the last seven and a half years…from earning a college degree, to volunteering and then working at the Riverside Water Quality Control Plant and now for Redlands Municipal Utilities, and chairing the CWEA’s P3S committee. That takes determination and persistence, and she has it. “When she...

There is no doubt that CWEA has played a huge role in my career and continues to open doors and present opportunities for my future growth in our exciting industry. It feels like yesterday I was attending my first workshop and studying for my first certification. Little did I know that one day I would...

  State SJWP Competition Entry Deadline: April 15, 2018| ENTER COMPETITION To be eligible for the state competition, students must complete the online entry form and electronically submit their research paper. There are no specific paper guidelines at the state level, however the file cannot be larger than 2MB. Teams of one or two students may enter....