Keynote Speakers
Patricia Mulroy
Peter Pino
Michael L Connor
Plenary Session with Pat Mulroy
Sunday, May 20
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Pat Mulroy oversees the operations of the Las Vegas Valley Water District, which serves more than 340,000 customers, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which is responsible for acquiring, treating and delivering water to local agencies that collectively serve 2 million residents and nearly 40 million annual visitors. Mulroy joined the District more than 20 years ago and began serving as its general manager in 1989. She was a principal architect of the Authority, which has served as a model for other Western water agencies since its creation in 1991. As general manager of one of the country's most progressive water agencies, Mulroy is exceptionally active in regional and national water issues. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and the National Water Resources Association, and on the Board of Trustees of the Water Research Foundation. Additionally, she was the original chairperson of the Western Urban Water Coalition and served on the Colorado River Water Users Association’s board of directors. A resident of Southern Nevada for more than three decades, Mulroy is equally active in the community. She currently chairs the University of Nevada, Las Vegas College of Sciences Advisory Board, and has served on the Nevada Public Radio Board of Directors. Mulroy is also actively involved with the Diocese of Las Vegas. Her honors include National Jewish Medical and Research Center's Humanitarian Award, the University and Community College System of Nevada Board of Regents' Distinguished Nevadan Award, and the Public Education Foundation's Education Hero Award. Mulroy served as special assistant to the Clark County Manager and as Clark County Justice Court Administrator before joining the District. She and her husband, Robert, have two children. Mulroy's recreational interests include skiing and reading. |
Opening Ceremony, Keynote Breakfast and Lecture
Monday, May 21
7:30 - 9:15 a.m.
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Peter Pino is from Zia Pueblo, which is near Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has bachelor's degrees in electronics and industrial education and a master's degree in business administration. Peter has worked for the tribe since 1973 and is currently the tribal administrator for the Pueblo of Zia. He is also a traditional craftsman who tans deer hides and makes moccasins, bows and arrows, digging sticks, rabbit sticks, and bone tools using the same techniques employed by his Pueblo ancestors. In the following passage, Peter shares the Pueblo view of the natural world. "It is important not to get lost in the forest of modern technology. I have a formal education that allows me to work in the modern world, but I stay connected with the Indian world by the things I make today using the knowledge that my forefathers handed down generation after generation. When I make the same things they made, I show the ancestors that the connection to the past is still important and that their knowledge and skill aren't forgotten." "I have respect for all the things that have been put here by nature. In keeping with the ways of our ancestors, I always request permission from nature before I take anything from it, and I offer a prayer and gift in exchange. I don't take for the sake of taking. I take out of necessity for myself, my family, or the pueblo." "After people have been in a place like Woods Canyon for a time, they can figure out what natural resources the area can provide. Once they learn what nature has to offer, then they can start to work on making natural tools. I always thought that modern tools would function better, but when I go back to using ancient technology, the tools I make often work better than the modern ones. It is an honor to understand and carry on the art of ancient technology." |
Plenary Session with Michael Connor
Thursday, May 24
8:45 - 9:30 a.m.
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Michael L. Connor was confirmed Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation by the United States Senate on May 21, 2009. Connor has more than 15 years of experience in the public sector, including having served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee since May 2001. At the committee, Connor managed legislation for both the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey, developed water resources legislation and handled Native American issues that are within the Energy Committee's jurisdiction. From 1993 to 2001, Connor served in the Department of the Interior, including as deputy director and then director of the Secretary's Indian Water Rights Office from 1998 to 2001. In this capacity, Connor represented the Secretary of the Interior in negotiations with Indian tribes, state representatives, and private water users to secure water rights settlements consistent with the federal trust responsibility to tribes. Before joining the Secretary's Office, he was employed with the Interior Solicitor's Office in Washington, DC and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began his Interior career in the Solicitor's Honors Program in 1993. Connor received his J.D. from the University Of Colorado School Of Law, and is admitted to the bars of Colorado and New Mexico. He previously received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from New Mexico State University and worked for General Electric. The Bureau of Reclamation is a contemporary water management agency and the largest wholesale provider of water in the country. It brings water to more than 31 million people, and provides one out of five Western farmers with irrigation water for farmland that produces much of the nation's produce. Reclamation is also the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States with 58 power plants. |
