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West Coast Dam and Levee Resilience Webinar Series - Federal Government
About This Webinar
To Register go to https://www.same.org/webinar-series
The Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) is hosting a series of virtual webinars focusing on Dam and Levee Resilience on the West Coast, a collaborative event between the Federal, State, and Local Government, Regional Agencies, and the Private sector. Stakeholders of all kinds will be coming together in a platform designed to foster cross-sector collaboration, in a series of talks developed by engineers for engineers but appropriate for the general public regarding the risks, challenges, and policy updates facing our aging infrastructure. We are assembling national leaders and subject matter experts as presenters. The safety and security of dams is paramount; please join us as we discuss the concerns and challenges associated with maintaining these mega structures.
“This is a chance to hear diverse perspectives on the challenges ahead in flood risk management, climate change, and reliability of the nation’s infrastructure, as well as how we can look differently at setting better policy to begin to incorporate considerations of social justice and engineering with nature. As we see shifts in the demands put on dams and levees, it becomes all more critical to understand how we align the many federal and local programs to best serve the nation,” says Phoebe Percell, PE, Chief, Dam & Levee Safety Branch, HQUSACE.
The three virtual sessions are as follows:
• Federal Government—May 26
• Local Government, Agencies & Utilities—July 14
• Private Sector—October 6
A fourth in-person Cross-Sector Collaboration event is under development.
Agenda
- Welcome
- State of the Nation's Dams
- Public Protection Guidelines Update
- Dam Safety Risk
- Risk Communication - Rapid Inundation Tool (RIM)
- Isabella Lake Dam Design Team
- Isabella Lake Dam QA Team
- B.F. Sisk Dam / San Luis Reservoir
- Lessons Learned From 2020 Edenville and Sanford Dam Failures
- National Levee Safety Program Initiative
Who can view: People who attended or registered for the webinar only
Webinar Price: Free
Featured Presenters
Chief, USACE Dam and Levee Safety
Phoebe Percell is the Chief, Dam and Levee Safety Branch, Engineering and Construction Division, USACE HQ. She also serves as the Deputy Dam and Levee Safety officer for USACE. She previously worked for HDR and spent 17 years at the Bureau of Reclamation. Ms. Percell received bachelor degrees in Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, and a Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering, all from the Colorado School of Mines. She is a Registered Professional Engineer in Colorado and has served in leadership roles with the US Society of Dams (USSD).
Technical Risk Advisor
Dom Galic currently serves as the Technical Risk Advisor for the TSC Geotechnical Services Division. He has been with Reclamation since 2008 and a risk analysis facilitator since 2011. Dom has a doctoral degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado.
Director, USACE Risk Management Center
Nate Snorteland has been with the Corps of Engineers as the Director of the Risk Management Center since 2009. In this role, Mr. Snorteland is responsible for managing risks for the Corps of Engineers portfolio of more than 740 dams and 15,000+ miles of levees. Mr. Snorteland’s background includes experience designing and constructing a wide variety of dams across the United States. He has experience with grouting, RCC, seismic analysis, and embankment dam construction, culminating with being a designer and construction engineer for Ridges Basin Dam, a 275-foot high pump-storage dam in Southwest Colorado. Following his work as a designer and construction engineer, he worked in the dam safety program for the Bureau of Reclamation in a variety of roles. He was Reclamation’s project manager and lead engineer for the Joint Federal Project, a $1.6 Billion flood risk management and dam safety project at Folsom Dam in California.
He specializes in risk assessment and risk management and developed risk management strategies for both Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers. Since coming to the Corps of Engineers, he has led efforts related to risk, risk analysis, risk management, portfolio management, design standards, and risk-informed design.
He sits on the Dam and Levee Safety Committees for USSD and the Journal Committee for ASDSO.
He holds a B.S. in Civil engineering from the University of Colorado, Denver and a M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering from Virginia Tech. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Colorado.
He specializes in risk assessment and risk management and developed risk management strategies for both Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers. Since coming to the Corps of Engineers, he has led efforts related to risk, risk analysis, risk management, portfolio management, design standards, and risk-informed design.
He sits on the Dam and Levee Safety Committees for USSD and the Journal Committee for ASDSO.
He holds a B.S. in Civil engineering from the University of Colorado, Denver and a M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering from Virginia Tech. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Colorado.
Hydraulic Engineer, USACE Dam Safety Modification Center of Expertise
Mr. Stowasser is a 2005 graduate of West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery, WV with a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering. Currently he is a registered professional engineer in the state of West Virginia. He has worked for the Huntington District, US Army Corps of Engineers, since 2001. He is currently working in the Dam Safety Production Center as a hydraulic engineer for the H&H and Technical Support section. He has been involved with several Dam Safety Studies, Periodic Inspections, Periodic Assessments, Issue Evaluation Studies, and Screening for Portfolio Risk Assessments. Ed has performed as a technical team lead with the national Modeling, Mapping, and Consequence Center (MMC), where he creates HEC-RAS dam failure models, inundation flood mapping, and HEC-FIA models to determine risk and consequences associated with dam or levee failures. He has also been working on the development of the MMC’s Rapid Inundation Mapping (RIM) tool that will build inundation maps for real-time and flood emergency planning exercises.
Chief, Geosciences Branch, USACE SPD-DSPC
David Serafini is the Geosciences Branch Chief for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the South Pacific Division Dam Safety Production Center (SPD-DSPC). He has over 20 years of experience with USACE in the areas of Dam Safety and Geotechnical Engineering. Mr. Serafini started his USACE career in the Sacramento District and is now in the SPD-DSPC. Mr. Serafini is the Lead Engineer for the Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project.
Isabella Dam Technical Lead, USACE SPD-DSPC
Mr. Ruthford has over 35 years of experience with USACE in the areas of Dam Safety and Structural Design. He started his USACE career in the Sacramento District and is now in the SPD-DSPC. Mr. Ruthford is the Phase II Technical Lead for the Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project. He earned his B.S. degree in civil engineering at California State University, Sacramento. Mr. Ruthford is a registered professional engineer in the state of California.
Project Engineer, USACE Isabella Lake Dam Resident Office
Carlos Hernandez currently serves as the USACE Project Engineer for the rehabilitation of the Main Dam - Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification Project (DSMP). Prior to joining the Isabella Lake DSMP team, he served as a Geotechnical Engineer for the USACE New Orleans District where he worked on a variety of levee and flood risk reduction projects. He is a registered Professional Engineer and Professional Geoscientist in the State of Louisiana. He has a B.S. degree in Engineering Geology from UCLA and a M.S. degree in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
Dam Safety Program Manager, Bureau of Reclamation
Katherine Strozinski is a Program Manager in the Bureau of Reclamation’s Dam Safety Office in Denver, Colorado. She has over 24 years of experience in dam safety, engineering design, and project management. Katherine joined Reclamation in 2009 and worked in the construction management group prior to moving to the Dam Safety Office. Currently, she manages a portfolio of 36 high hazard dams within the California-Great Basin Region with a focus on using risk-informed decision making. She received her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1997 and is a registered P.E. in the State of Colorado.
Washington Office Chief, FERC Division of Dam Safety & Inspections
Paul Shannon is the Branch Chief of the Headquarters Dam Safety Branch of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's - Division of Dam Safety and Inspections. He has worked at FERC for over 30 years and has been involved with numerous dam safety-related projects including new construction, investigations, remediations, and incident/emergency response. He is also a long-time instructor of FERC's EAP Exercise Design Course.
National Levee Safety Program
Ms. Conforti is a registered professional engineer and has worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for 29 years in a variety of areas related to flood risk management. In her current role as the Special Assistant for Levee Safety, she is responsible for overseeing implementation of the agency’s Levee Safety Program. This involves leading the development and issuance of program policies; serving as technical advisor on levee safety aspects and issues; prioritizing the agency’s program activities; and fostering partnerships by serving on related national committees and task forces. In 2020, Ms. Conforti initiated efforts to begin designing elements for a National Levee Safety Program, which will include creating comprehensive national guidelines and fostering levee safety programs at the state, regional, and local levels. Ms. Conforti has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and a M.S. in Risk Management from Notre Dame of Maryland University. She is a registered professional engineer and a certified floodplain manager.
Technical Manager - National Levee Safety Program
Mr. Michael Bachand is currently serving as a Technical Manager supporting the development of the National Levee Safety Program and specifically focused on leading the Intergrated Levee Management component since 2020. Mr. Bachand began working for the New England District (NAE) in May 2012 as the district’s Levee Safety Program Manager. Prior to NAE, Mike spent approximately 13 years working in private industry for a consulting engineering company called CDM Smith. Mike joined CDM Smith upon graduating from college at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. He is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts and Louisiana and holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
Executive Director, USACE Directorate of Research and Development
Dr. Matheu serves as the senior advisor to the Director of Research and Development, supporting the development of policy and strategies for research and development for USACE's civil works and military programs and fostering the implementation of science and technology innovations across the USACE enterprise. He holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina; a M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez; and a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech. Dr. Matheu has authored and co-authored more than 100 technical publications.
Webinar Producer
Mr. Gregory is the director of this webinar series, SAME San Francisco Post membership director, SAME SF Holiday Gala Co-Chair, and is a Senior Geomatics Analyst / Project Surveyor with Towill, Inc., based in Concord, California. Towill is currently serving in a quality assurance survey role for the Isabella Lake Dam Safety Modification project under a contract with the USACE Sacramento and St. Louis Districts, and Mr. Gregory is leading Towill’s work in this group effort.
Webinar Deputy Directory
Jason serves as a USACE Client Account Manager for Jacobs focused on the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes and Ohio River regions. He previously served for 26 years as an Army Engineer Officer culminating his career as the Commander of the USACE Huntington District.
Webinar Deputy Directory
Wendy Chen is a Principal Environmental Scientist in the San Jose office. She has been with Stantec for 21 years, primarily focusing on Environmental Investigation and Remediation for Federal and Private clients. She is the environmental services sector leader for the Federal Sector. She works nationwide with large and small business. She is married, has a 13 yr. old daughter, and a COVID puppy named Charlie. In her free time, she loves travelling, running, skiing, swimming, and spending time with her family and friends.
Webinar Marketing Director
Ms. Caffey is a Marketing Coordinator with Towill, Inc.
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