BOARD MEMBERS
Thomas M. Berliner
Chair
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
Tom Berliner is chair of Duane Morris’ global Energy, Environment and Resources Practice Group. Tom provides legal, policy and strategic advice on water, energy, environmental and governmental/municipal law and also is chair of the firm's Water Resources and Renewable Energy and Sustainability practice groups. His practice includes advising public entities and private clients on all aspects of water supply, hydropower, energy development, renewable and sustainable energy practices, natural resources and environmental compliance and litigation. He also advises municipalities, special districts, private individuals and companies on municipal affairs and government procurement. Tom represents clients before local, state and federal agencies on administrative, regulatory and legislative matters.
Tom is a board member of the Water Education Foundation and a member of the Association of California Water Agencies, the Section of the Environment, Energy and Resources of the American Bar Association and The State Bar of California.
Derek Hoffman
Secretary-Treasurer
Director
Fennemore
Derek Hoffman is an experienced water resources attorney. He represents clients in some of the largest and most complex groundwater basin adjudications in California, including the Antelope Valley, Mojave Basin Area, and the Indian Wells Valley. His practice includes guiding clients through implementation of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and other state and federal natural resources laws. He assists clients in developing and implementing effective strategies to obtain, maintain, protect and transfer water rights and supplies.
Eric L. Garner
Board Member
Managing Parnter
Best Best & Krieger LLP
Managing Partner Eric Garner has practiced water law for more than thirty years at Best Best & Krieger LLP. He has worked extensively on groundwater matters. He has been involved in seven groundwater adjudications including the Mojave Groundwater adjudication and represented the lead parties in the Santa Maria and Antelope Valley groundwater adjudications. He has advised clients throughout California on groundwater issues and was involved in the drafting of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. He has worked on surface water issues throughout the state and has drafted water laws in South Africa, Trinidad and Pakistan.
Eric co-authored “California Water,” “California Water II,” and “California Water, Third Edition,” and is an adjunct law professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. He has also been named a California Lawyer of the Year by California Magazine. He has twice been selected as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal and the Water Law Lawyer of the Year in Los Angeles by Best Lawyers.
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Larry Rodriguez
Vice Chair
Vice-President - Water Resources
GEI Consultants
Larry Rodriguez is a Principal Water Resources Manager at GEI Consultants with nearly 30 years of experience in water resources planning in California. Larry has developed expertise in the areas of strategic water resources planning, water transfers and acquisitions, water rights, groundwater management, conjunctive use planning, floodplain resources management planning, and watershed planning. He has spent that past several years managing the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in Kern County. He has managed and led planning efforts in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta related to emergency response planning, State Water Project supplies, the Bay-Delta Conservation Program, and water transfer and acquisitions programs. He has provided public and private sector interest’s policy and advocacy support in regional and statewide planning processes. Larry has worked extensively with the California Department of Water Resources and the State Water Contractors on regulatory and policy issues related to the delivery of water from the State Water Project as well as the management of the Project for long-term reliability.
Robert A. Krieger
Board Member
Chairman of the Board
Krieger & Stewart, Incorporated
Robert A. Krieger, a California Professional Engineer, was President of Krieger & Stewart from its founding in 1971 until 2011, and now serves as Chairman of the Board. Krieger specializes in providing services as a consultant, technical advisor, and expert witness related to water-related matters. His experience includes service as consultant to numerous cities, counties, and special districts on public works projects, particularly water, wastewater, and flood control; service as expert witness in litigated matters involving property condemnation, water rights, ground water, surface water, irrigation, drainage, flooding, and construction; and service as an engineering appraiser on water and wastewater systems.
Nicolle Falcis
Board Member
Senior Associate
Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo
Nicolle Falcis is an attorney with Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo. She represents retail water districts and special districts throughout California. Ms. Falcis is experienced in numerous subjects, including public board governance, public facilities, public construction, public finance and funding mechanisms, public contracting, environmental review, land use concerns, and litigation. Her practice also includes an expertise regarding the California Public Records Act and the Brown Act. Ms. Falcis is active in the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Legal Affairs Committee and Orange County Water Association.
Dave Eggerton
Board Member
Executive Director
Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
Dave Eggerton serves as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), the largest water organization of its kind in the nation. With a professional staff of approximately 40 employees and offices in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., ACWA is a statewide association whose 450 local public water agency members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California.
Prior to joining ACWA, Eggerton served as general manager of the Calaveras County Water District from 2014-2018. After beginning his career as a corporate lawyer in the Bay Area, he made the move to the Sacramento region, where he worked as deputy general counsel for the El Dorado Irrigation District from 2004-2010 and as general manager of the El Dorado County Water Agency from 2011-2014.