Addressing Population Growth, Water Demand, and Natural Disasters

Volume 9 Issue 3

Addressing Population Growth, Water Demand, and Natural Disasters

By Kris Polly

Dan Buhman: Building New Water Projects and Relationships in North Texas

Since July 2021, Dan Buhman has served as the general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD), which has been providing flood control and water supply services to the city of Fort Worth, Texas, for nearly 100 years. In our cover interview, Mr. Buhman brings us news of the progress on TRWD’s four major capital projects: the Integrated Pipeline Project, the Panther Island flood control project, the construction of artificial wetlands, and aquifer storage and recovery facilities.

The Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) provides electric, natural gas, water, and wastewater services to more than 473,000 customers in Knoxville, Tennessee, and parts of seven surrounding counties. In this issue, we speak with President and CEO Gabe Bolas and Manager of Plant Operations Joshua Johnson about KUB’s operations and top issues and how it earned the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies’ 2021 Sustainable Water Utility Management Award.

Northern Water provides raw water and irrigation water to over 1 million residents of northeastern Colorado, much of it sourced from the western slope of the Continental Divide. The debris created by recent wildfires has posed serious challenges for the infrastructure used to capture and convey that water. General Manager Brad Wind tells us about the debris protection booms Northern Water installed in its system in response.

Krah USA, based in Prineville, Oregon, uses Germandesigned technology to make exceptionally large and durable high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. We speak with co-CEOs Midge Graybeal and Mark Theetge and consultant Marc Thalacker about Krah USA’s offerings for the municipal market.

In our December issue, we told readers about the major reforms affecting New Zealand’s drinking water, wastewater, and storm water sectors. In this issue, we interview Bill Bayfield, the CEO of New Zealand’s new water services regulator, Taumata Arowai, about the agency and the effects of the reforms.

Water utilities must constantly keep up with population growth, water demand, and climatic changes. Through large capital projects, sustainability efforts, and creative solutions to new problems, the utilities we feature in this issue are doing just that.

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Municipal Water Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He can be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.