Focus on Foothill Water

The Columbia College Foundation will present “Focus on Foothill Water: Beyond the Drought” at the Sonora High School Auditorium March 13th.

The free community event is the beginning of a lecture series, providing an overview of foothill water. Mel Kirk, Columbia College Foundation Board President says, “This is a chance to learn from the region’s experts on the issues that got us here, the range of interests involved and the efforts underway to work together on long-range solutions.”

The evening’s keynote speaker is John Mills who was recently appointed to the California Emergency Drought Task Force. The two-hour evening program will be moderated by Columbia College Natural Resources Professor Dr. Tom Hofstra, featuring representatives from local water districts, agriculture, the environment and native California tribes:

• Lindsay Rosasco Mattos – Administrator, Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District
• Don Stump – President, Mountain Counties Water Resource Association and President, Calaveras County Water District
• Patrick Koepele – Executive Director, Tuolumne River Trust
• Stephanie Suess – Community and Resources Development Director for the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California. Suess is also a Columbia College Foundation director.
• Tom Trott, General Manager, Twain Harte Community Services District

Speakers will focus on the big picture of watershed management – past and future – rather than the specifics of the immediate drought emergency.

Doors open at 6:00pm, the majority of the evening will include comments and a guided discussion among the panelists, with a brief opportunity for audience members to submit questions at the end.

The Columbia College Foundation is a community nonprofit established in 1972 to promote quality higher education.