We are all aware of what extreme wildfires are doing to our homes, forests and air quality. What’s less clear is how wildfires pollute and alter the water coming out of our watersheds. 

Join us to hear what engineers have learned about this problem both locally and in other states, and what Salem is doing to protect the water we drink. This will involve a broad overview of the wildfire issue as it applies to the Pacific Northwest and California, along with a review focused on the Willamette Valley and Santiam watersheds.  The current status of Salem’s water supplies and our new ozone water purification facility will be discussed; in light of the wildfire, the latter is a very important upgrade to our system. Finally, there will be an overview of the water-related jurisdictional and political agreements we have with the multiple communities in the Santiam watershed.  The canyon wildfire highlights the need to ensure that they are working well. 

Our panel speakers are:

Jude Grounds, Vice President of Carollo Engineering,  has 20 years experience in water treatment plan design, construction, and process optimization. As head of the company’s PNW Water practice, he has worked with the City of Salem in support of the development of our near and long term responses to cyanotoxins. He also has managed some of the largest water supply planning and design Projects in the Northwest,  Jude has additional experience with California and Western States communities in drought and with post wildfire water issues.

Lacey Goeres-Priest is the Water Quality Supervisor for the City of Salem.  Lacey oversees drinking water regulatory programs such as watershed monitoring, cross connection, regulatory compliance sampling, and operation of the Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) well system. .  She maintains Oregon Water Distribution III, Oregon Water Treatment I, and Oregon Cross Connection Specialist certifications.  

Chris Hoy is the city councilor from Ward 6 and currently serves as president of the city council and as chair of the Salem Housing Authority. He retired recently after a 30 years history with law enforcement in Clackamas County;  he rose through the ranks to the position of Undersheriff. Throughout his career, Chris worked to help incarcerated individuals in the criminal system have better outcomes and reduced recidivism. As a city councilor involved with Salem water issues, he will review the water relationships we have with our Santiam watershed neighbors.

This program will take place on January 22, 2021, at Noon on Zoom. To access the webinar, go to https://salemcityclub.com/, click the tab that says “Events,” click “Register” and once you register, your spot will be reserved for the event. You will then be sent a link for the Zoom Webinar. Meetings are free for members and $5 for nonmembers. 

Upcoming Program: 

February 5, 2021

The Power of the People - Animal Bond

Presented in Partnership with Salem Reads

Speaker; B.J. Andersen, Executive Director of the Willamette Humane Society