Karen is a Principal and Senior Hydrogeologist with Spronk Water Engineers, Inc. She has over eighteen years experience performing a wide variety of projects in the areas of hydrogeologic and environmental investigations, water rights, water resources protection and development, hazardous waste management, environmental regulatory compliance, and project management of CERCLA and RCRA projects. Karen earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Geology from Colorado State University and her Master’s Degree in Geology from the University of Montana, after which she spent ten years in the environmental consulting field at Nationwide Environmental Services and Applied Hydrology Associates. Prior to joining Spronk Water Engineers, she worked for the City of Thornton as a Water Resources Administrator, with responsibility for water rights acquisition and protection, water supply planning and development, and representing the City at the Colorado Water Quality Forum.
Bill has been an active member of AWRA since 1993, serving on conference committees, publishing in JAWRA, and presenting papers at meetings. He has authored or co-authored six JAWRA articles since 1990. Bill served as a National AWRA director, from 2003 - 2007. Bill received a B.A. in Geology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1984, and a M. E. in Geological Engineering, from the Colorado School of Mines, in 1992. He began his professional career in 1982, installing wells and measuring water-levels as a technician for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in New Jersey. Bill returned to the USGS in 1985 as a hydrologist working on studies of groundwater supply and groundwater quality as a function of land use. In 1989, Bill transferred to the USGS office in Colorado to work on issues related to the occurrence of agricultural chemicals in Midwestern water resources. He has helped design and conduct studies investigating the occurrence of pesticides in streams, reservoirs, groundwater, rain, and the air. He is currently working on investigations of the occurrence of glyphosate in Midwestern streams, fungicides in potato growing regions, hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and its relation to nutrient flux of the Mississippi River, the decline of amphibian populations in North America, and the susceptibility of public water supplies to surface-water contamination.
Dennis is a Colorado native and since graduating from Dartmouth College (1985), has gained over 24 years of experience in the consulting business. He is a registered Engineer (Colorado) and Geologist (Arizona and Wyoming). His expertise includes ground water supply evaluations, well testing and design, pumping system design; well rehabilitation; stream depletion analyses; and computer modeling of ground water systems. He is extremely interested in the technical feasibility of artificial recharge and recovery projects. He serves clients in Colorado, Arizona, and Idaho. He has worked for Bechtel (3 years); Layne Western (3 years) and Leonard Rice Engineers (18 years), where he is currently a principal and leader of the ground water group. He has served as the AWRA (Co. section) newsletter editor and Treasurer during the last three years. He is also active with the Colorado Ground Water Association. Outside work, Dennis coaches youth sports and has coached over 50 seasons of soccer, baseball, basketball and ski-jumping. He has four children, two in college.
Kristina is a Hydrologist with Bishop-Brogden Associates, Inc. Her work include water rights evaluations, water use accounting, historical use studies, hydrologic analysis, and field investigations. Kristina received a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science with an emphasis on water resources from Oklahoma State University and completed a Master of Arts degree in Physical Geography at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her graduate work was focused on hydrology and fluvial geomorphology and her thesis examines the relationship between high flows and invasive macroinvertebrates in Boulder Creek, Colorado. Kristina has been on the AWRA Colorado Board since 2008 and will be serving as the Membership Committee Chair. Kristina also serves as the secretary of the Rocky Mountain Section of Water for People.
Laurna is the climate scientist for the Planning Division at Denver Water. Her primary responsibility is to coordinate climate investigations and implement the findings into the planning process. Laurna’s work incorporates many areas of water resource planning, including climate and drought planning, operational and water rights analysis, and long range integrated resource planning. Before her career at Denver Water, Laurna was a Professor of Physics at Sweet Briar College, and then went on to work as a climate science researcher with Aurora Water. Laurna has a Master’s degree in physics and a Bachelor’s in physics and mathematics. She is a Colorado native and enjoys all the outdoor activities it has to offer.
Dan has an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Union College in New York, and a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Planning and Management from Colorado State University. He worked for one year as a Development Review Engineer for the City of Fort Collins before moving to Denver to start his current position of two and a half years with Leonard Rice Engineers, Inc. Dan enjoys working on a variety of water related projects, including Colorado water rights, water quality investigations, optimization of resources and database design. He expects to become a licensed professional engineer within the year. Dan also enjoys playing volleyball, ultimate frisbee and hiking. He currently lives in Lakewood, CO.
David is a Water Resources Planner at Denver Water, where he has worked since 1996. David is responsible for the daily operation of Denver’s raw water collection system, particularly the South Platte River system. He also negotiates and develops new non-potable water agreements for Denver’s Planning Department, and helps plans new water supply projects. David has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has over 20 years experience in Colorado water resources.
Emily is the Water Resources Division Manager at the City of Thornton. She manages Thornton’s water rights operations, water rights accounting, water supply planning, water supply development, water rights protection, and water conservation efforts. In addition, she oversees the operations and maintenance of Thornton’s raw water supply facilities and Thornton’s Northern Project properties. Emily earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Geology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Denver. In her Master’s thesis, Emily studied the increased sedimentation on alluvial fans in the Buffalo Creek and Spring Creek watersheds following the 1997 Buffalo Creek forest fire. Emily has over ten years of experience in Water Resources planning and management, and has worked on a variety of projects, including negotiations with other water providers for joint facilities and the evaluation and acquisition of water supplies and facilities for Thornton. In addition, she had the privilege of participating in the Colorado Foundation for Water Education’s first Water Leader’s Program in 2005.
Andy has 29 years of experience in water resources engineering experience in northern Colorado. Andy is employed by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District as its Water Resources Department Manager. Andy has a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from Colorado State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado. Andy has worked on a number of water resources projects including water rights evaluations, water supply planning projects, stream flow forecasting, water supply availability forecasting, modeling of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project operations and operational policy changes. Andy’s department is responsible for water rights investigations, water supply availability projections, and operations modeling. He is a native of Colorado and grew up on farms in the greater Windsor-Greeley-Ft. Collins area before it became urbanized. Andy has been a long-time member of AWRA and has served on the Board since 2005.
Steve Smith has been a water resources engineer for MWH for four years and has primarily been working on projects involving fluvial geomorphology, floodplains, and ground water. He has been a member of AWRA Colorado since 2004 and has helped write the AWRA Colorado newsletter since 2007. He moved to Colorado in 2002 for graduate school in civil engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and has since decided there is no place like Colorado to call home. He spends summers riding bikes and hiking as many mountains as possible in his free time, and skiing or snowshoeing make up most of his weekends during the winter. Before living in Colorado he received a bachelor's degree in environmental geology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and worked as a geologist primarily on hazardous waste restoration projects as well as a few water supply studies. He is recently married and has two dogs that he and his wife call family.
Mike is a Water Resources Specialist with the Colorado River Water Conservation District. He works on a variety of resource issues including water rights, river and reservoir operations, water quality, and project development. Mike received a Bachelor of Science in Forest Hydrology from the University of Georgia. Mike is a member of both the National and Colorado Chapters of AWRA. He has 14 years experience in water resources in Colorado. Mike is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys our State’s most precious resources by sliding on our snowpack in the winter and floating our rivers in the summer. Mike and his wife Kim and two girls live in Breckenridge, CO.