Titles

• Senior Global Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
• Professor of Practice, School of Public Affairs, Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions

Biography

Kathryn’s service in water management include positions as a governor-appointed Member of the Arizona Water Banking Authority Commission, Member of the Arizona Colorado River Reconsultation Committee, Member of the Board of Directors of the Water Research Foundation, Member of the State of Arizona’s Colorado River Steering Committee, Advisory Committee member of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, Member of the Water & Health Advisory Council, Member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Effective Utility Management Utility Leadership Group, as well as Member of the Rates and Charges Subcommittee of the American Water Works Association.  She has provided numerous presentations on water resource issues at neighborhood, city, state, federal, and international levels, including testimony before the United States Senate on drought and water resilience.

In her professional career Kathryn significantly advanced the sustainable management of water resources in Arizona and the Colorado River basin.  As Director of Phoenix Water Services she was responsible for the reliable delivery of safe, clean drinking water in a desert city of nearly 1.7 million inhabitants.  She also oversaw the city’s wastewater collection system as well as wastewater treatment for approximately 2.5 million people in the Valley of the Sun.  Prior to this, she served in the City of Mesa for many years as a water resource manager, in which position she led Mesa’s efforts in the Gila River Indian Community water rights settlement as well as the White Mountain Apache Tribe water rights settlement, and ultimately steered the water and wastewater utilities as director for four years. 

Kathryn has a PhD in Resource Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.  Currently, she serves as an Advisory Committee member of Arizona State University’s Decision Center for a Desert City, on the Board of Advisors of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Morrison Institute, an Advisory Committee member of the Water Resources Research Center, on the Focus Area Council of the Water Research Foundation, and as a member of the Rates and Charges Subcommittee of the American Water Works Association.

 Kathryn lives in Phoenix with her husband.  They have two children and a dog.