Chris Allen obtained his Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Montana State University
(MSU), investigating nitrogen transformations and removal in treatment wetlands. Since
2009 he has been researching and working on wetland treatment systems that provide
both primary and secondary treatment for wastewater and natural systems designed for
nitrate abatement. He is a researcher, instructor and faculty advisor for the MSU
chapter of Engineers Without Borders. He is a senior scientist with the WGM Group.
Devin Beal joined Midwest Assistance Program, Inc. in 2022. Devin holds a B.S. in
chemical engineering from the University of Kansas and recently received his master’s
degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University. In 2024, Devin received
his professional engineering license. He has experience in water, wastewater and solid
waste infrastructure design. Devin has worked on many projects ranging from small
waterline replacements to major water treatment plants. He has worked with communities
to improve their operations as a member of the Area-wide Optimization Program in Kansas.
He has developed and delivered training for water and wastewater operators.
David Carlson is the operations manager of the AE2S Billings location and has served
large and small communities throughout the region to address their water challenges
for over a decade.
Autumn Coleman is the Deputy Division Administrator for DNRC’s Conservation Resource
Development Division, the conservation finance arm of DNRC. Autumn leads the team
that manages grants statewide, investing funds into necessary investments in water,
wastewater, stormwater and irrigation infrastructure, including the historic investments
from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The CARDD team also administers the State
Revolving Fund loans to cities, towns and water and sewer districts to protect public
health and safety. CARDD is a small division with a tremendous commitment to serving
Montana’s cities, towns, water and sewer districts and other local governments to
provide not only funding but also technical support and often friendship. Autumn has
an undergraduate degree in soil science and a master’s degree in engineering project
management, both from Montana State University. Autumn has over 25 years of experience
in natural resource management and, once upon a time, was MDEQ’s lead and copper rule
manager.
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 Illinois. John’s
career has spanned over 40 years, during which he was actively involved in AWWA at
the section and association level in many capacities, including the president of AWWA
in 2014. Although he is retired, John remains 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.
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 water treatment plant superintendent position. Over the
past 20 years, Jason has managed three different water systems and provided compliance,
operation, maintenance, and project oversight for municipal water plants, including
Helena, Billings and Great Falls. Jason has been involved with several amazing boards
and board members for over 25 years and is currently past chair of the MT-AWWA section,
Lake Helena Watershed Group and MT-Warn. Jason is currently employed by MDEQ as a
capacity development specialist and provides technical assistance to communities.
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 and project
management. He is also a licensed MT water and wastewater operator.
Kyla Jacobsen is the recently retired utility director for Elgin, Illinois. She has
been in the water industry for over 35 years. She started as a bench chemist in the
water quality laboratory, worked as the chief chemist in charge of water quality and
eventually became the utility director in charge of drinking water, sewer collection
and conveyance and stormwater. Kyla fulfilled many roles during her career at the
utility and as a volunteer for the American Water Works Association (AWWA). She served
as the chair of the Illinois section of AWWA, as a director on the board for the AWWA
in Denver and has chaired many committees at the state level (outreach, water utility
council, diversity and inclusion) as well as committees at the national level. In
addition, she has served as a trainer for water operators in the Illinois section
of AWWA for over 15 years. Kyla received her bachelor’s in chemistry from Southern
Illinois University, a master’s in biochemistry from Northern Illinois University,
and a master’s in environmental engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.
Nilaksh Kothari is the CEO of Preferred Consulting, LLC, which provides leadership,
management and technical services for 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 and has more than 35 years of leadership experience in the
electric and water sector. 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 to 2008). He holds
a master’s degree in sanitary engineering from South Dakota State University in Brooking.
He has served on boards for 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 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 Montana DEQ Public Water Supply Bureau. Mike firmly believes that the
bureau should work to help water systems optimize their operations and not just regulate
without insight.
Rika Lashley is an environmental engineer who works in Morrison-Maierle’s Helena office.
Her experience includes planning, designing and constructing water and wastewater
conveyance and treatment systems. She specialized in wastewater process design for
biological nutrient removal and lagoon systems. In addition, Rika has extensive experience
with MPDES permitting, including data requirements, calculation of reasonable potential
and permit limits. She is actively involved in recent efforts of the Nutrient Work
Group, which is working with DEQ to revamp effluent permitting for nutrients. Rika
is also well-versed in federal 40 CFR 503 regulations for land application and other
disposal methods for biosolids.
Ted D. Meckes, P.E. has served the water industry for 34 years. He started his career fresh out of college as an engineer for City Water, Light and Power (CWLP) in Springfield, Illinois. He served as the Superintendent of Water Treatment for CWLP until November of 2012, when he became CWLP’s Water Division Manager. He retired in August 2020. Ted graduated with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ted has been a member of the American Water Works Association (ISAWWA) since 1986. He is a past chair of ISAWWA, a registered professional engineer and a Class A water operator in Illinois. Ted received the 2010 Illinois Public Water Supply Operators Association (IPWSOA) Surface Water Operator of the Year Award, the 2018 Water Professional of the Year for the ISAWWA and the George Fuller Award from the ISAWWA in 2019.
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 oilfields, 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 like MRL and Exxon, handling everything from inventory to pump installs
and maintenance. His work expanded into reliability, laser alignment, vibration analysis,
system start-up, and acceptance testing. Peak Group Companies purchased his business,
and he now works for the Peak Group.
Craig Nowak obtained B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering from the South Dakota
School of Mines and Technology and is licensed in eight states. He has been employed
with Morrison-Maierle, Great Falls Office, since 1991. During that time, his work
focused on municipal and rural water distribution, wastewater collection and treatment,
and stormwater management. Craig is a Fellow Member of the American Society of Civil
Engineers, a Life Member of the American Water Works Association, and the 2019 recipient
of the AWWA Fuller Award.
James Sletten is an I&C technician at AE2S with a decade of control system experience
in water and wastewater. He specializes in integrating valves, pumps and sensors with
PLCs and SCADA systems to control various water and wastewater processes.
Mike Uthe is the current Northwest area manager for Mueller's Water Management Solutions
group. He has spent the last seven years working in municipal water as a technical
resource for utilities and engineers. His expertise includes asset management, control
valves, and non-revenue water. He has a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering
from Montana Tech and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Montana State
University.
Kurt Vause is co-founder of StreamlineAM, LLC, an Alaskan and Montana-based consulting
service dedicated to utility management, asset management and engineering for the
water sector. From 1998 - 2017, he was the engineering division director of Anchorage
Water Wastewater Utility (AWWU), then 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 asset
management program development for community water systems. The company is developing
and implementing a comprehensive enterprise asset management program for 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 within a water utility asset evaluation report for
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 active in professional associations throughout his career and served 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.
