Academy participants visit the Papio–Missouri River Natural Resources District.
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academy and its accomplishments over the last decade. Kris Polly: Please tell us about the thinking behind the creation of the academy and how it came into existence. Lee Orton: I operate several associations from my offices in Lincoln, and we did a leadership academy for an association that represents the groundwater well drilling profession in Nebraska. It was successful in bringing some new, younger people into the association’s leadership. That idea developed a little bit, and I spoke with Tom, who was the president
of the Nebraska State Irrigation Association (NSIA) at the time, about the success we’d had there, and the fact that we needed to find some younger people to get involved and invested in the water industry as well. Tom and I put together a proposal, and with his sales capabilities, we took it to Diamond Plastics, which was then doing, and continues to do, a lot of business in Nebraska and across the West. Diamond Plastics was enthused and excited about the concept and gave us a founding donation. Over the years, the company has given us over $60,000 to support the program. Next, we sought support from the Nebraska Environmental Trust
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JASON ORTON.
he Nebraska Water Leaders Academy, founded in 2011, is a professional leadership program that trains water resources professionals in leadership skills and technical knowledge. Over the course of six sessions, participants learn about the different geographical areas of the state of Nebraska and about a variety of water subjects and leadership skills, all while building valuable, industry-crossing relationships with their fellow students. In this interview, Lee Orton, the executive director of the Nebraska State Irrigation Association, and Tom Knutson, the association’s former academy planning committee chair, talk with Irrigation Leader’s editor-inchief, Kris Polly, about the origins of the
