Darryl Barton is a public health sanitarian for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. A Montana native with over 20 years of experience in the environmental profession emphasizing water quality, he owned and operated a private consulting business in western Montana for nine years and worked in permitting and compliance for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. It is always an honor to present at Montana Water School.
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 excellent 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.
Todd Helgeson is an owner/principal of StreamlineAM, LLC, an Alaskan-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 water/wastewater utility asset management field. As an asset economist, I was also responsible for performing economic evaluations on capital projects and asset infrastructure, performing risk assessments, and writing asset management plans for asset groups, asset management tactical plans, and asset management strategic plans.
Rachel Hinnenkamp has worked as a food and waterborne disease epidemiologist at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services for over eight years.
Douglas Hunter is a consultant with more than 30 years of experience in all phases of the exploration and development of small- and large-capacity groundwater supplies. He has considerable hydrogeology expertise, emphasizing groundwater flow investigations and characterizations, aquifer test analysis and interpretation, groundwater and surface water interactions, groundwater-supply development and management, and design and installation of well systems. Hunter has evaluated critical issues such as 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. In addition, Hunter has provided project management of hydrogeological investigations for 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.
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.
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.
Kevin Morley is the Manager of Federal Relations for the American Water Works Association (AWWA). He works closely with multiple organizations to advance the security and preparedness of the water sector. This includes supporting the development of several ANSI/AWWA standards that represent minimum best practices for water sector risk and resilience management, including cybersecurity guidance. He is a leading expert on §2013 of America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018 and resources that enable water systems to advance their security and preparedness for all hazards. Dr. Morley has been appointed to the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council. Dr. Morley received his Ph.D. from George Mason University for research on water sector resilience and developing the Utility Resilience Index (URI). He holds an M.S. from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a B.A. from Syracuse University.
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 Storm Water Construction Program and serves as the main point of contact for assisting customers with FACTS and NetDMR. She loves helping customers who need technical support.
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.
