About WSN

The network is made up of individuals who completed an intensive cohort experience, our advisory council, partners, and others who share the commitment to practicing sustainable and equitable land and water stewardship.

 

 Meet the Team

To read our Team bios, click on each respective name.

Debbie Franco

CEO
Watershed Solutions Network
debbie@watersolutionsnetwork.org

Alissa Patterson

Program Manager
Watershed Solutions Network
alissa@watersolutionsnetwork.org

Angelica Dowell

Program Director
Watershed Solutions Network
angelica@watersolutionsnetwork.org

Audrey Allison

Operations Director
Watershed Solutions Network
audrey@watersolutionsnetwork.org

Max Ochoa

Community Manager
Watershed Solutions Network
mfelipeochoa@gmail.com

Meet our Board of Directors

To read our Board of Directors bios, click on each respective picture.

Ashley Boren

Board Secretary

Sustainable Conservation

David Orth

Board Treasurer

David Orth Consulting, LLC

Debbie Franco

CEO

Watershed Solutions Network

Joy Bonaguro

Board Member

Independent Consultant

Moisés Moreno -Rivera

Board Member

Trust for Public Lands

Norma Camacho

Board Member

Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board

 Meet our Newest Network Members

To read our new network member bios, click on each respective image.

 

Amanda Bohl

Cohort 5
Delta Stewardship Council

Angel Santiago Fernández-Bou

Cohort 5
University of California, Merced

Art Castro

Cohort 5
Los Angeles Department of Water & Power

Austin Stevenot

Cohort 5
River Partners

Brook Thompson

Cohort 5
University of Santa Cruz

Chris Lehman

Cohort 5
City of San Luis Obispo

 

Daniel Spivak

Cohort 5
SWCA Environmental Consultants

Jessi Snyder

Cohort 5
Self-Help Enterprises

Justin Fredrickson

Cohort 5
California Farm Bureau

Karlee Liddy

Cohort 5
UC Santa Cruz

Kathleen Schaefer

Cohort 5
University of California, Davis

Kristine McCaffrey

Cohort 5
Calleguas Municipal Water District

 

Lisa Beyer

Cohort 5
World Resources Institute

Max Fefer

Cohort 5
East Bay Municipal Utility District

Melissa Corona

Cohort 5
San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board

Melissa Gunter

Cohort 5
San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board

Melissa Weymiller

Cohort 5
Larsen, Wurzel and Associates

Michelle Banonis

Cohort 5
Regional Water Authority

 

Miguel Hernández

Cohort 5
California Natural Resources Agency

Sergio Vargas

Cohort 5
Ventura County PWA/ Watershed Protection

Suzanne Sharkey

Cohort 5
National Water Research Institute

Tara Moran

Cohort 5
California Water Data Consortium

Trina Cunningham

Cohort 5
Maidu Summit Consortium

Bill Leonard

Cohort 4 Collaboration Partner
Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation

 

Lawrence Yee

WSN Advisory Council
Retired

Stewart Drown

WSN Advisory Council
Government Operations Agency


To learn more about joining the WSN Network, please reach out to one of our staff members.

 Network Members

To read our network member bios, click on each respective image.

 

A.G. Kawamura

WSN Advisory Council

Orange County Produce

Abby Taylor-Silva

Cohort 1

California Agricultural Leadership Foundation

Abigail Hart

Cohort 4

The Nature Conservancy

Adam Borchard

Cohort 2

California Fresh Fruit Association

Adriana Renteria

Cohort 2

CA State Water
Board

Alesandra Najera

Cohort 1

The Water
Foundation

 

Alexandra Biering

Cohort 4

Allison Harvey
Turner

WSN Advisory
Council Water Foundation

Alydda
Mangelsdorf

Cohort 3

Amy McCoy

Cohort 3
AMP Insights

Amy Witherall

Cohort 3
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Anatole Falagan

Cohort 1

 

Angela Pang

WSN Founding Partner
Coro Northern California

Ankar Bhattacharya

Cohort 4
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Ann Hayden

Cohort 1
Environmental Defense Fund

Ann Willis

Cohort 3
UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

Arian Aghajanzadeh

Cohort 2
Klimate Consulting

Ashley Boren

WSN Board of Directors
Sustainable Conservation

 

Barry Bedwell

Founding WSN Advisory Council Member
California Agricultural Leadership Foundation

Ben Duval

Cohort 3
Ben Duval
Farms, Inc.

Brian Golding

Cohort 3
Quechan Indian Tribe

Buzz Thompson

WSN Advisory Council
Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Carl Evers III

Cohort 4
AgIS Capital

Carlos Quintero

Cohort 1
Sweetwater Authority

 

Casey Anderson

Cohort 1
Orange County Farm Bureau

Celeste Cantú

WSN Founding Partner
San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board

Charnna Gilmore

Cohort 3
Scott River Watershed Council

Christina Babbitt

Cohort 2
Starbucks

Cindy Tejeda

Cohort 2
GEI Consultants

 

Cori Ring-Martinez

Cohort 2
GRID Alternatives

Courtney Young-Law

WSN Founding Partner
Coro Northern California

Crystal Tulley Cordova

Cohort 3
Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources

Cynthia Guzmán

Cohort 1
Estolano Advisors

Daniel Hartwig

Cohort 4
Woolf Enterprises

Danielle Bergstrom

Cohort 4
Fresnoland

 

Darcy Bostic

Cohort 4
Pacific Institute

Dave Orth

WSN Board of Directors
Cohort 4 Collaboration Partner
David Orth Consulting, LLC

Dave Puglia

Founding WSN Advisory Council Member
Western Growers

Debbie Franco

CEO
Watershed Solutions Network

Denise Fairchild

WSN Advisory Council
Emerald Cities Collaboratives

Denise Soria

Cohort 2
Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board

 

Dore Bietz

Cohort 2
WSN Advisory Council
Tuolumne County

Drew Atwater

Cohort 1
Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California

Edgar Tellez Foster

Cohort 1
Chino Basin
Watermaster

Eileen Takata

Cohort 1
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District

Elizabeth Nielsen

Cohort 3
County of Siskiyou

Ellen Wehr

Cohort 1
Grassland Water District

 

Emmy Cattanni

WSN Cohort 4 Collaboration Team
Cattani Farming

Felicia Marcus

WSN Advisory Council
Stanford University’s Water in the West Program

Fisayo Osibodu

WSN Cohort 3
San Diego Water Quality Control Board

Francisco Zamora

Cohort 3
Sonoran Institute

Frank Ruiz

Cohort 3
Audubon California

Hong Lin

Cohort 2
California Department of Water Resources

 

James Ferro

Cohort 1
West Yost Associates

Jamie Anderson

Cohort 2
California Department of Water Resources

Jeff Borum

Cohort 4
East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District

Jennifer Nevills

Cohort 2
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

Jenny Tanphanich

Cohort 1
WSN Advisory Council
Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts

Joel Metzger

Cohort 4
Utica Water and Power Authority

 

John Cain

Cohort 2
River Partners

Jordi Vásquez

Cohort 2
California Department of Water Resources

Jose Cortez

Cohort 3
Colorado River Water Quality Control Board

Joseph Claverie

WSN Cohort 4
Joe Claverie Farms/Ametza, LLC

Josh Dowell

Cohort 4
Century Ag. LLC

Joya Banerjee

WSN Advisory Council
U.S. Water Alliance

 

Julie Rentner

Cohort 2
River Partners

Justina Gamboa-Arce

Cohort 3
Imperial Irrigation District

Karen Pope

Cohort 2
USDA Forest Service

Kate McCutcheon

Cohort 3
Vail Ranchez, LLC

Kay Wiand

Cohort 1
USDA Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest

Kenneth Holbrook

Cohort 2
CA Public Utilities Commission

 

Laney Whitcanack

WSN Founding Partner
Coro Northern California

Laura Ramos

Cohort 4
California Water Institute at California State University, Fresno

Lauren Steely

Cohort 3
Metropolitan Water District

Lester Snow

WSN Advisory Council
Klamath River Renewal Corporation

Maria Herrera

Cohort 2
USDA State Director of Rural Development for California

Marina Perez

Cohort 4
State Water Resources Control Board

 

Marta Lugo

Cohort 1
Valley Water

Martha Guzman Aceves

WSN Advisory Council
California Public Utilities Commission

Marybeth Vergara

Cohort 1
San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy

Max Ochoa

Cohort 3

Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy

Michael Lynes

Cohort 2
Audubon California

Michael Woo

WSN Founding Advisory Council Member
Retired, College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona

 

Michelle Reimers

Cohort 1
Consultant

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

WSN Board of Directors

Cohort 3
Trust for Public Land

Morgan Campbell

Cohort 2
Westside Water Authority

Nick Wobbrock

Cohort 2
Blue Forest Conservation

Nnenna Ozobia

WSN Founding Partner
Coro Northern California

Norma J. Camacho

WSN Board of Directors
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board

 

Odin Zackman

WSN Founding Partner
DIG In

Paul Robins

Cohort 1
Resource Conservation
District of Monterey County

Pedro Hernández

Cohort 2
GreenLatinos

Pete Silva

Founding WSN Advisory Council Member
Silva-Silva International

Peter Rietkerk

Cohort 4
South San Joaquin Irrigation District

Rafael Villegas

Cohort 1
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

 

Rene Henery

Cohort 1
Trout Unlimited

Ricardo Bayon

Cohort 1
Encourage Capital

Regina Hirsch

WSN Cohort 4 Collaboration Team
Watershed Progressive

Reyn Akiona

Cohort 4
Valley Eco

Rogelio Caudillo

Cohort 4
Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency

Roger Cornwell

Cohort 1
Sutter Mutual Water Company

 

Ryan Flaherty

Cohort 4
Sustainable Conservation

Ryan Jensen

Cohort 4
Community Water Center

Sahara Huazano

Cohort 3
Alianza Coachella Valley

Sammy Genshaw

Cohort 3
Ancestral Guard

Sandi Matsumoto

Cohort 1
The Nature Conservancy

Sarafina Maraschino

Cohort 3
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

 

Scott Seus

Cohort 3
Seus Family Farms

Scott White

Cohort 3
Klamath Drainage District

Shreejita Basu

Cohort 3
Washington State Department of Ecology

Stephen Mejia-Carranza

Cohort 1
Friends of the Los Angeles River

Susana De Anda

WSN Advisory Council
Community Water Center

 

Vicky Espinoza

Cohort 4
UC Merced

Willie Whittlesey

Cohort 2
Yuba Water Agency

Xerónimo Castñeda

Cohort 4
Audubon California

Zoe Rodriguez del Rey

Cohort 3
Coachella Valley Water District

 

Founding Partnership

The Water Solutions Network was founded in 2017 by Coro Northern California, DIG IN, and Water Education for Latino Leaders (WELL) with sponsorship from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.

The original partnership commitment was to expand the understanding of California’s water management field and increase awareness of the diverse perspectives and goals of water stakeholders.

We believe that collaborative leadership approaches create the most lasting solutions to the challenging issues we face. Giving water leaders the skills, knowledge, and networks to support collaboration and coalition-building is vital to our state's ability to manage for and lead through water extremes including flooding, drought, and fire.

Independently, our organizations have worked for decades to grow the leadership capacity of Californians and to enhance knowledge sharing in a diversity of fields including water management. The Water Solutions Network represents an exciting way to weave our deep experience together in service of California's water future.

 
 

Celeste Cantu Consulting

Celeste Cantú serves in a variety of water leadership roles and writes and speaks on 21st Century western water policy and management.

She currently serves on:

  • San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board as Chair

  • Water Solutions Network, Design Team

  • Water Policy Center Advisory Council, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Chair

  • Water Education Foundation, Vice President

  • The Water Foundation, Vice President

  • UC President’s Advisory Council for Agriculture and Natural Resources

  • Master Gardener in Riverside County.

Coro Northern California

Coro Northern California is a nonpartisan, nonprofit focused on helping people work and lead across differences. Since 1947, we have provided more than 11,000 program graduates nationwide with the skills, knowledge, and networks to collaborate and accelerate positive change. Participants in our experiential leadership development programs span sectors, political parties, backgrounds, ages, and geographies.

DIG IN

DIG IN is a Bay Area-based catalyst serving networks, coalitions, communities, and organizations in California and nationally. DIG IN provides a range of tools and techniques for creating healthier places: fostering citizen and institutional awareness of environmental and social equity issues, building effectiveness through leadership training, facilitation, and conflict resolution; and in the design and support of collaborative networks and partnerships focused on systemic change.

Water Education for Latino Leaders

WELL educates local Latino elected officials about California water policy to promote timely and equitable actions that serve to develop a robust economy, healthy communities, and a resilient environment for all Californians.