by Tony Runkel, MGWA President
What a great experience it was to serve as MGWA president this past year. Particularly gratifying was the continued loyalty of MGWA members. Despite the unfortunate circumstances that have now prevented us from meeting in person for a couple of years, membership has not lagged, and interest in the conferences remains strong. At times during the Fall Conference we had over 250 people attending the Webinar. MGWA thanks you for your continued support!
A number of people have been instrumental in sustaining our success. In particular, I’d like to express my appreciation to MGWA board members: Julia Steenberg, Jeré Mohr, Vanessa Baratta and Michael Ginsbach. And to the MGWA management team of Sean Hunt and Jennie Leete. Together they guided this techno-challenged president through the preparation necessary to hold the meetings virtually.
If you had to miss the Fall Conference, or would like to see one of the talks again, you can access videos of all the presentations at https://www.mgwa.org/conferences/mgwa-2021-fall-conference/. I thought the speakers did a great job conveying the concerns over groundwater quality in the driftless area of southeastern Minnesota and adjacent states. Many of the speakers provided links to additional resources, which you can now find at this same link on the MGWA website.
Over the past year I’ve also more fully appreciated the effort other MGWA volunteers provide to make this organization so wonderful. The Education committee of Cathy Undem, Bryce Hoppie, Bruce Olsen, Jeff Stoner, Anne Nelson, and Eric Bunge have been working hard, and the collaboration with the Minnesota Well Owners Organization has great potential to get the word out to citizens on the importance of protecting groundwater. The Foundation, guided by Stu Grubb, Kara Dennis, Jarrod Cicha, Scott Alexander, Eric Mohring, Katrina Marini, Ellen Considine, and Julia Steenberg, continued their service, which this year included funding internships to students from underrepresented groups. Kate Pound has worked hard in her role as the lead for the MGWA DEI committee along with Kara Dennis, Jenn McDonald and John McDaris. The White Paper Committee of Carrie Jennings, David Crisman, Jared Trost and Lanya Ross saw to the completion of the “Chloride and Stormwater Infiltration” report late in 2020, and they are very close to finishing the “Groundwater Protection Act of 1989” white paper. We welcome Jim Lundy and Rebecca Higgins to the White Paper group and thank Carrie and David for their time and dedication. We have accomplished a lot this past year. Thanks so much to all of you for taking the time out of your busy lives to volunteer! Finally, I would like to welcome our 2022 MGWA president, Jeré Mohr. The MGWA presidents over the past few years have been affiliated with state agencies and academia. With Jeré generously donating his time to serve as president over the next year, he will bring back the perspective of private industry. Best of luck to you, Jeré, I think you will find the experience rewarding.
MGWA is committed to developing a just, equitable, and inclusive groundwater community. Click on the button below to read MGWA’s full diversity statement.
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