Debbie Franco

Watershed Solutions Network, CEO

Debbie Franco is the CEO of the Watershed Solutions Network (WSN). WSN is a network of people committed to sustainable and equitable land and water stewardship. The Network’s curriculum builds regional collaborative capacity to coordinate efforts at the landscape-scale that is necessary to catch up with the pace of climate change. 

Before joining the Watershed Solutions Network, Debbie spent 10 years in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, ultimately serving as the Senior Advisor on Water and Rural Affairs. Debbie was known for her commitment to collaboration across agencies and between agencies and stakeholders. Debbie served on Governor Brown’s Drought Task Force as the Local Drought Liaison focusing on local government and local agency assistance and household water supply shortages. She also served on the Forest Management Task Force that spanned the Brown and Newsom administrations, leading the Rural Economic Development Steering Committee/Wood Utilization Work Group. Debbie participated in and contributed to the development of California’s historic Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

Debbie got her start in the water sector at the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (EJCW) where she first became known as a coalition builder and collaborator. In partnership with the Planning and Conservation League, EJCW co-founded the California Water Summit, a gathering designed to build alliances across sectors on progressive water policies. The Human Right to Water bill emerged at a Summit gathering and Debbie shepherded the campaign until she joined the Governor’s Office.