Nate Avitt is the current Singer Sales Application Specialist for the entire US/CANADA Western Region. He has spent the last 13 years with Singer in various roles, including Production Manager, OEM Account Manager, Sales Engineering, and Training Lead, while also serving as a technical resource for utilities and engineers in the municipal water sector. Additionally, he has overseen and built thousands of valve builds per year. His expertise includes asset management, control valves, and non-revenue water. He has studied electrical engineering automation in Charlotte, NC, and mentored under many Singer mechanical engineers during his career.
Robert Cheng has 35 years of experience in the drinking water utility sector, primarily working for three southern California water utilities (Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Long Beach Water Department, and Coachella Valley Water District). His utility experience covers a wide range of topics, including conducting water treatment studies for Cryptosporidium and Giardia, enhanced coagulation, and arsenic removal; managing the largest federally funded seawater desalination research program in the early 2000s; managing utility water treatment and operations; and, most recently, acting as one of CA’s representatives in the negotiations on the Colorado River. Cheng is active in AWWA, having formerly served as chair of the Standards Council and Vice-Chair of the Water Utility Council. He was formerly the chair of the Steering Committee for the Partnership for Safe Water and is currently the chair of the Steering Committee for the Partnership for Clean Water. Cheng is a recipient of various AWWA recognitions, including the Fuller Award (CA-NV Section), Volunteer of the Year Award, and the Abel Wolman Award. He is a certified Grade 5 treatment operator and a Grade 5 distribution operator (both in CA).
John Donahue is the recently retired CEO of the North Park Public Water District in Machesney Park, Illinois. He began his career as a small system operator and still holds operator certifications in water and wastewater treatment in the state of Illinois. John’s career has spanned over 40 years, during which he was actively involved in AWWA at the section and association levels in various capacities, including serving as president of AWWA in 2014. Although he is retired, John remains very active in the water industry as legislative chair of the AWWA Water Utility Council and chair of the ISAWWA WUC. In addition, John has twice testified before the U.S. Congress on drinking water issues.
Associate Research Professor
MSU
Jason Fladland graduated from MSU-Northern with a bachelor’s degree in water quality technology/environmental health, including internships at Great Falls and Glasgow water treatment facilities. After receiving his 1AB certification from the State of Montana, Jason moved to Helena and became an operator for the city at the Tenmile and Missouri River Treatment plants until 2003. In 2003, he changed careers and became a registered sanitarian with Lewis and Clark County, before returning to the City of Helena in 2008 to take the position of water treatment plant superintendent. Over the past 20 years, Jason has managed three different water systems, providing compliance, operation, maintenance, and project oversight for municipal water plants in Helena, Billings, and Great Falls. Jason has been involved with several excellent boards and board members for over 25 years and is currently the past chair of the MT-AWWA section, Lake Helena Watershed Group, and MT-Warn. Jason is currently employed by the MDEQ as a capacity development specialist, providing technical assistance to communities.
Daniel Freeland is the compliance inspector for MDEQ’s Public Water Supply System Operator Assistance office in Billings.
Ross Hanson is the I&C Regional Manager for Montana at AE2S, where he has worked for the past 14 years. His experience includes instrumentation and controls, as well as project management, and he is also a licensed MT water and wastewater operator.
Todd Helgeson is an owner/principal of StreamlineAM, LLC, an Alaska-based consulting service dedicated to utility management, asset management, and engineering for the water and wastewater sectors. StreamlineAM was formed to bring internationally recognized advanced asset management practices developed and implemented internally at a utility to a broader audience. In his previous employment at AWWU, he worked as an asset economist for over five years. He was part of a team that developed several practices recognized by IWA/WSAA in 2014 as leading international practices in the field of water/wastewater utility asset management. As an asset economist, he was also responsible for conducting economic evaluations of capital projects and asset infrastructure, performing risk assessments, and developing asset management plans for asset groups, as well as tactical and strategic asset management plans.
Douglas Hunter is a consultant with over 30 years of experience in all phases of exploring and developing small- and large-capacity groundwater supplies. He possesses considerable expertise in hydrogeology, with a focus on groundwater flow investigations and characterizations, aquifer test analysis and interpretation, interactions between groundwater and surface water, groundwater-supply development and management, and the design and installation of well systems. Hunter has evaluated critical issues, including natural recharge limitations, groundwater and surface water interactions, interferences with existing pumping centers, and water balance computations to estimate long-term groundwater yields. His unique capabilities include experience in evaluating the design, performance, and utility of conventional vertical wells and horizontal radial collector wells. Projects have included wellfield siting and expansion studies for vertical and horizontal collector wells, safe yield determinations, well rehabilitation and maintenance evaluations, wellfield management strategies and plans, water quality investigations, and source water protection studies.
Additionally, Hunter has provided project management services for hydrogeological investigations, including groundwater-supply development, wellfield management, source water protection studies, production well design and installation, and aquifer and wellfield performance testing. This has involved the preparation of detailed specifications for new well installations and assistance with bidding and construction oversight. His responsibilities have encompassed the supervision and coordination of field activities associated with geologic and hydrologic site investigations, including drilling operations, geophysical surveys, variable-rate and constant-rate pumping tests, and the collection and interpretation of data.
Lisa Kaufman is the Surface Water Treatment Rule Manager in the Public Water Supply Bureau at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Lisa relocated to Montana from Indiana where she worked in the public health sector for 20 years in water quality. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology and Spanish.
Graduate student, Land Resources & Environmental Sciences
MSU
Nilaksh Kothari is the CEO of Preferred Consulting, LLC, a company that provides leadership, management, and technical services to utilities. Nilaksh has served as CEO and general manager of Manitowoc Public Utilities (MPU) and managing director of Great Lakes Utilities (GLU) since August 2000, bringing over 35 years of leadership experience in the electric and water sectors. MPU is Wisconsin's largest municipally owned electric utility and the sixth-largest water utility. Nilaksh reported to a seven-member board of directors (commission members). GLU is Wisconsin's second-largest municipal electric company, focusing on providing reliable and low-cost power to its 12-member communities. Nilaksh is the past president of the American Water Works Association (2007-2008). He holds a master’s degree in sanitary engineering from South Dakota State University in Brookings. He has served on the boards of the American Public Power Association and the Water Research Foundation and currently serves on AWWA’s International Council. Nilaksh is a registered professional engineer and a certified operator in the state of Wisconsin.
Michael Kropp has an industrial engineering degree. He has worked for engineering and construction firms and has been self-employed. For the last 22 years, he has worked for the Montana DEQ Public Water Supply Bureau. He primarily performed sanitary surveys, technical assistance visits, and level 2 assessments from the Kalispell office until beginning his new duties as the Capacity Development Coordinator and Technical Assistance Specialist for the Montana DEQ Public Water Supply Bureau. Mike firmly believes that the bureau should work to help water systems optimize their operations, rather than regulate without insight.
Chad Morgan’s career has spanned 18 years in the world of rotating equipment. He worked for the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management for ten years. He also worked in the oil fields, beginning as a floor hand and eventually becoming a driller with Nabors Drilling. This role gave me hands-on experience with massive triplex and end-suction centrifugal pumps. He eventually launched his own company, KHM Laser Alignment and Millwright Services. He traveled across Montana, installing and aligning pumping systems ranging from 5 to 5000 hp. Chad secured maintenance contracts with major clients, including MRL and Exxon, handling everything from inventory management to pump installations and maintenance. His work expanded into reliability, laser alignment, vibration analysis, system start-up, and acceptance testing. Peak Group Companies acquired his business, and he now works for the company.
Josh Seekins is the Surface Water Treatment Rule Manager for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. He is currently the co-lead for AWOP (Area Wide Optimization Program) in Montana. Josh has over 13 years of experience in surface water and wastewater treatment, as well as over 15 years of analytical experience. He completed his undergraduate studies at Dickinson State University in Dickinson, North Dakota.
Gina Self is a database analyst and ICIS coordinator for the Water Protection Bureau at DEQ. In her position, she manages all data associated with discharge permits. She fulfills reporting requirements to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She has worked in the Water Protection Bureau for almost 14 years. She loves data and helping the regulated community with questions regarding permits, issues with FACTS, and assisting with data entry issues.
Wendy Simons has been a data control specialist with the Water Protection Bureau at DEQ for two years. She manages the Stormwater Construction Program and serves as the primary point of contact for assisting customers with FACTS and NetDMR. She enjoys assisting customers who require technical support.
James Sletten is an I&C technician at AE2S, bringing over a decade of experience in control systems for water and wastewater. He specializes in integrating valves, pumps, and sensors with PLCs and SCADA systems used to control various water and wastewater processes.
Richard Steckel has over 40 years of experience in the water and wastewater industry. WDS has provided training to utilities and professionals working within the water and wastewater fields for many years.
Jon Thomas is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in water quality analysis and technical support. Currently serving as a Senior Learning Facilitator at Hach since March 2018, Jon leads educational programs on various products and applications for both customers and internal associates. Prior roles include Learning Facilitator at Hach, Multilingual Technical Advisor at OTT Hydromet, and Bilingual Technical Advisor at Hach Company, where Jon provided training and technical assistance in multiple languages. Earlier career experience includes technical support at In-Situ and GIS technician work at TechniGraphics. Jon holds a Bachelor of Science in Watershed Science from Colorado State University, earned between 1998 and 2002.
Kurt Vause is co-founder of StreamlineAM, LLC, an Alaska and Montana-based consulting service dedicated to utility management, asset management, and engineering for the water sector. From 1998 to 2017, he served as the Engineering Division Director of the Anchorage Water Wastewater Utility (AWWU), and subsequently as Special Projects Director for Strategic Utility Initiatives. During his tenure at AWWU, he was responsible for AWWU’s capital construction program, its Grants and Loans section, and the Strategic Asset Services and Planning sections of the utility. Kurt chaired the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Asset Management Committee from Fall 2016 to July 2020 and was chair of AWWA’s Water Utility Council from 2016 to 2019. He also served on the 2012 International Water Association (IWA) - Water Supply Association of Australia (WSAA) Asset Management Best Practices Benchmarking Project Steering Committee. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering and a master’s degree in civil engineering.
Dave Weihrauch is the principal of H2O Compliance Strategies, LLC, and has been certified as an Ohio EPA Class II Water Distribution System Operator, Ohio Class IV Water Treatment Plant Operator, and Arkansas Class IV Water Treatment Plant Operator. He has 37 years of experience in the municipal service industry, including construction, operation, and maintenance of stormwater, wastewater collection, and water distribution systems. He retired as the Water Treatment Plant Manager for the City of Oxford, Ohio, where he served for 26 years. H2O Compliance Strategies, LLC is primarily involved in developing asset management programs for community water systems. The company is developing and implementing a comprehensive enterprise asset management program for the Beaver Water District, serving one of seven Arkansas residents with potable water. H2O Compliance Strategies, LLC has previously supported Parsons Corporation as a team member in developing regulatory compliance strategies for a water utility asset evaluation report on behalf of the Ohio Department of Transportation. In addition, he has held many volunteer positions with the Ohio Section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), Chairman of the AWWA Ohio Section Water Utility Council, and Legislative Chairman of the AWWA Water Utility Council. David received the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana Regional Council of Governments “In Motion” Award, the Ohio Section AWWA Operator Meritorious Award, and the 2015 AWWA Volunteer of the Year Award.
Craig Woolard is a professor and head of the Department of Civil Engineering at Montana State University
and the Montana Water and Wastewater Operators Initiative director. Before returning
to MSU, Craig served as the public works director for the City of Bozeman. Craig has
served as the treatment operations director and then general manager of the Anchorage
Water and Wastewater Utility in Anchorage, Alaska. Craig has been actively involved
in professional associations throughout his career, serving as the national president
of the American Water Works Association in 2008. Craig grew up in Kalispell, Montana,
and earned a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Montana State University and a Ph.D.
in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He is a registered professional
engineer in Alaska and Montana.
