Cheryl MacKelvie

Water Leadership Institute Program 2025 The 2025 application period for the Water Leadership Institute program is now open! Gain a supportive community of water professionals and mentors, sharpen your leadership skills, and grow professionally. The Water Leadership Institute program educates, trains, and provides opportunities that enable developing and emerging leaders to build strong, lasting relationships [...]

Get to Know the CASA Team: Spencer Saks, Legislative & Regulatory Analyst Spencer works as an analyst for CASA’s state legislative and regulatory advocacy programs, and is a key point of contact for CASA agency and associate members on legislative and regulatory issues. He directly coordinates with elected and appointed officials, legislative staff, state regulators, [...]

Long-Time Valley Sanitary District Leader Retires William “Bill” Teague, a distinguished board member at Valley Sanitary District has announced his retirement following the end of his current term. Bill started his employment with Valley Sanitary District in 1951 at the age of 19 and became the General Manager at 24. In the early 1980s, he [...]

Navigating PFAS: Data-Driven Communications Strategies for Public Agencies Join us on November 19 from 11:00am to 12:00pm for a joint power lunch webinar as we delve into recent state-wide survey results to gain insights into the public's awareness of PFAS, their primary concerns about these chemicals, and the most impactful messages and trusted messengers. During [...]

Maile Lono-Batura Joins CASA as Director of Renewable Resources We are very excited to share some significant news with the CASA membership! In late October, Maile Lono-Batura will be joining the CASA team, and will take on the role of Director of Renewable Resources following Greg Kester's retirement in February 2025. In this role, she [...]

2024 Legislative Session Comes to a Close On the final deadline for signing or vetoing bills, Governor Gavin Newsom closed out the 2024 Legislative Session by addressing all pending bills on his desk. The second year of the two year 2023-24 Legislative Session concluded with significant developments across a range of policy areas. The year [...]

Effective October 1 – California Direct Potable Reuse Regulations After years of scientific and public health research, extensive regulatory development, and a strict water quality monitoring framework, the state has provided a safe and proven potable reuse option to water agencies for source water alternatives, further ensuring long-term water reliability. The Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) [...]

Orange County Water Agencies Dedicate New PFAS Treatment Plant The Orange County Water District (OCWD) and East Orange County Water District (EOCWD) celebrated the dedication of a new PFAS treatment plant, marking a major milestone in ensuring safe and reliable water for the region. The dedication ceremony brought together local, state, and federal representatives to recognize [...]

California Water Professionals Appreciation Week We are thrilled to celebrate the eighth annual California Water Professionals Appreciation Week on October 5-13. We encourage CASA member agencies to showcase the programs and events that educate California water customers, local elected leaders, state and federal legislators and other key audiences. Sharing your agency’s activities during the week [...]

Get to Know the CASA Team: Alyssa Downs, Manager of Communications Alyssa joined CASA in December 2019 and plays a key role in providing timely, relevant information to both members and legislators on clean water and beneficial reuse issues. Her responsibilities include developing CASA’s communication strategies, producing the CASA Connects newsletter, developing content for traditional [...]