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MI-ACE 2025 Program 

Wednesday, September 10 
 Date   Time   Presentation # and Room   Lead Presenter   Organization   Presentation Title   Presentation Description 
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 9:00 AM 1.2 Lake Huron B Michelle  Stockness Freshwater The Future of Water – How Lucky Are We!  Water is vital—and in this time of increasing risks and challenges, we can also view it as a time of big opportunities. In this engaging session, Michelle Stockness explores the future of water through the lens of innovation, equity, communication, and resilience. Drawing on over 20 years of experience and her leadership at Freshwater, she will highlight real-world projects addressing water quality, water reuse, groundwater governance, and workforce development. Let’s talk about what’s at stake—and how we can work together to protect this precious resource for generations to come.
10:20 AM 1.3 Lake Huron B Angie Goodman Lansing Board of Water and Light Building a Healthier, Informed Community: Our Community Water Advisory Council & Lansing School’s Drinking Water Flushing Program The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) has removed all known active lead service lines and, through its Community Water Advisory Council (CWAC), has implemented several methods to enhance public awareness and reduce water quality risks. Focusing especially on vulnerable populations like children, BWL and the Lansing Schools launched the Drinking Water School Flushing Program to minimize lead exposure by flushing faucets for 30 seconds each morning. The program is simple and engaging, with a weekly “Water Safety Captain” in each classroom responsible for the task. This initiative empowers students to take an active role in water safety while reducing exposure risks. Through educational materials and this program, BWL is building good lifelong water habits and improving community health.
10:55 AM 1.4 Lake Huron B Ken Jewison Stantec Consulting After 20 years of planning, you landed a major industrial user.  Now what?! This presentation will include a brief history of the City of Marshall’s Megasite development known as the MAJOR Campus, how it came to be, and how utility service was ultimately delivered to the site. The listener will be presented with some clear-eyed takeaways for any community looking to attract a major industrial user. Navigating the web of stakeholder, regulatory, and engineering obstacles, can seem daunting, especially if the project is expedited.  That’s why building a trusted team of partners, and a coherent strategy is essential.  This session will include discussion of planning and communication strategies, stakeholder engagement, permitting, alternate project delivery, and benefits to a programmatic approach for large projects. 
11:30 AM 1.5 Lake Huron B Ken  Kawahara American Water Works Association Insights from AWWA: Moving Water Forward Join AWWA Vice President Ken Kawahara for an inside look at what’s happening across the Association. Ken will provide updates on key initiatives, advocacy efforts, strategic priorities, and how they connect to the work being done at the local level.
1:35 PM 2.1 Lake Huron B Jacob Jasperson Utility Metering Solutions Find Your Hook: Answering Questions, Addressing Feedback, and Engaging Your Community When Deploying Advanced Metering Utilities often face questions and concerns from their customers and the communities they serve when upgrading their metering infrastructure. Learn about the power of a community engagement program to address these objections and foster trust and goodwill between all stakeholders, along with helpful talking points, information, strategies, and tactics to address these objections and keep all involved informed and engaged.
2:10 PM 2.2 Lake Huron B Ariana Wade Fishbeck From Legacy to Innovation: A Multi-Generational Dialogue on Water The water industry faces challenges both from the outside and within: we see emerging contaminants and new treatment technologies, an aging and emerging workforce, and an effort to strengthen the public’s trust in water and their communities. This panel discussion will feature both young professionals from the public and private sector, as well as more seasoned professionals to share their experiences, thoughts, and opinions on the present and future challenges for the water industry and the changing workforce. 
3:30 PM 2.4 Lake Huron B Sue McCormick Water Asset Management Council Michigan Water Asset Management Council - How and Why to Fill out the Survey Members of the Water Asset Management Council will review the purpose and importance of the asset management surveys, how the data is used, and demonstrate how to complete the surveys.
1:35 PM 3.1 Ballroom 1 Shawn Koorn HDR Utility Rate Setting and Policy Considerations Developing cost-based rates is paramount in maintaining the long-term financial sufficiency of a utility. This presentation includes the basic approach of establishing cost-based rates, and adequately funding annual O&M and capital expenses.  A review of industry benchmarks and affordability approaches will also be discussed. 
2:10 PM 3.2 Ballroom 1 Mikel Levandoski ClearFlow "Optimizing Utility Asset Management with GIS: Enhancing Efficiency, Compliance, and Sustainability" Discover how GIS-driven asset management is transforming utility operations by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing regulatory compliance. This session will explore how utilities can move from outdated, reactive maintenance to proactive strategies using real-time data and spatial insights. Learn how field crews and office staff can seamlessly collaborate, optimize workflows, and make data-driven decisions that extend asset lifespans. A real-world case study will showcase measurable results, including reduced emergency repairs and improved service reliability. If you're looking for practical solutions to modernize infrastructure management and maximize operational performance, this session is a must-attend!
2:45 PM 3.3 Ballroom 1 Carlee Fullenkamp, P.E., ENV SP HDR Prep Over Panic – Next Steps for LCRI Compliance Following the Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) inventory deadline of October 16, 2024 and the release of the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) the week prior, many drinking water utilities are concerned about what needs to be done to remain in compliance with regulations. This presentation will begin by covering compliance requirements carried over from the LCRR and will then transition to future requirements and deadlines under the LCRI. We will also discuss actions that can be taken between now and November 2027 to ease the burden of certain LCRI requirements and potentially even waive certain LCRI requirements. These actions will range across various areas of the LCRR and LCRI, such as outreach, compliance sampling, school and childcare sampling, and inventory updates.
3:30 PM 3.4 Ballroom 1 Joe Siwek Fishbeck Addressing Sanitary Survey Deficiencies at Drinking Water Storage Tanks In 2016, the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released “How to Conduct a Sanitary Survey of Drinking Water Systems” as a guidance document for the best sanitary practices for finished drinking water storage. This document replaced outdated and sometime contradictory guidance from previous publications.   As state enforcement agencies began to apply the new guidance to drinking water providers under their jurisdiction, many facilities are found to have deficiencies with various reservoir and storage tank components (vents, overflows, drains, hatches). This presentation will review the significant updates made in the 2016 EPA document, and display a case study on how the City of Ann Arbor applied the guidance in making improvements at their buried concrete reservoirs and elevated steel storage tanks.  
1:35 PM 4.1 Ballroom 2 Russell Schindler SampleServe, Inc. Revolutionizing Environmental Sampling and Monitoring: Digital Tools for Accuracy, Efficiency, and Audit Management. Digital transformation streamlines environmental monitoring by replacing paper-based systems with mobile data collection and automated field-to-lab transfers. Screen recording enhances compliance by capturing field activities with timestamps, GPS data, and user actions for remote auditing. Digital chain-of-custody (D-COC) improves sample tracking, reducing errors, accelerating workflows, and ensuring data integrity. Customizable alerts manage sampling schedules, preventing delays and ensuring compliance. Case studies, like a Texas drinking water initiative, show major cost savings, accuracy gains, and reporting efficiency.
2:10 PM 4.2 Ballroom 2     GAC and PFAS: the Next (re)Generation PFAS treatment is evolving, and so is the role of granular activated carbon (GAC). This panel explores the latest innovations in GAC technology, real-world applications, and what the next generation of treatment looks like.
3:30 PM 4.4 Ballroom 2 Gary McLaren HydroCorp 4 Tough Lessons to Avoid in Cross-Connection Control Programs Avoid costly mistakes in your cross-connection control program by learning from real-world failures. This session will highlight common pitfalls, from poor record-keeping to weak enforcement, and provide strategies to prevent them. Discover best practices for compliance, stakeholder engagement, and maintaining a proactive program. Stay ahead of regulatory challenges and protect public health with proven solutions. Don’t wait to learn the hard way—gain the insights you need to strengthen by attending this session!
4:05 PM 5.1 Lake Huron B Mark De Haan, P.E. Life Giving Water International Design and Sustainability in an International Context When working with rural communities in an international context in low-middle income countries, there are a number of key considerations to achieving a successful project. In the work of Safe Water in Ecuador’s partners in Ecuador, these considerations include cultural factors, community capacity, appropriate technology, and support and administration. This talk will share some of the important aspects of these 4 key considerations to a sustaining project in this specific context and examples of how these considerations are worked out in practice, as well as the engineering solutions that have developed as a result of this approach.
Thursday, September 11
 Date   Time   Presentation # and Room   Lead Presenter   Organization   Presentation Title   Presentaton Description 
Thursday, September 11, 2025 8:25 AM 6.2 Lake Huron B Kaisra Osman, Bcom, IAM, CRL Great Lakes Water Authority People or Data. Who Drives Decisions? This presentation articulates a paradigm shift in how GLWA integrates data and people to enhance decision-making. It highlights key initiatives implemented to strategically plan, capture, store, and leverage data—demonstrating practical, scalable strategies that drive data-informed decision-making and operational improvements.    By sharing GLWA’s journey of integrating data and people, this presentation provides practical, scalable strategies for organizations—large and small—to create a strategic framework for managing, capturing, storing, and utilizing data. This journey is not just about technology—it’s about fostering a data-driven culture that ensures long-term operational success.
9:00 AM 6.3 Lake Huron B Darren Lytle Hazen and Sawyer Random Daytime, Fully Flushed and Manual Composite Approaches: Lead Sampling Norms of the Future?  After decades of LCR sampling, the fixed volume first draw sample is the industry standard and has become the “go to” sample to answer all lead drinking water questions. Treatment effectiveness-based regulatory sampling has challenges and is inappropriate to answer many questions including those associated with exposure. This presentation will discuss three alternative lead drinking water sampling methods (random daytime, fully flushed, and manual composite sampling) that address exposure and other questions while still considering treatment effectiveness. Lead levels in the different water samples collected from homes with and without lead service lines, and in communities with and without effective corrosion control will be compared.
9:35 AM 6.4 Lake Huron B Ian Smith Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy State of Michigan Source Water Assessment Program: An Update Beginning in 2024, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy began an effort to update source water assessments for Michigan's public water supplies. Updates have begun, following the established framework for source water assessment scoring and ranking, and with EGLE staff coordinating site visits with our public water supply partners. This presentation will provide an overview of this method, as well as a detailed breakdown of the different components which go into each evaluation, leaving the audience with an understanding of how susceptibility is determined. Additionally, we will provide an overview of the statewide strategy for updating source water assessments in Michigan over the next 2 – 4 years, as well as potential outcomes.
10:20 AM 6.5 Lake Huron B Brian Phillips Fishbeck Innovative Pretreatment Solutions: The St. Joseph Success Story  This presentation will highlight the engineering and construction challenges faced during the upgrade of the St. Joseph Water Treatment Plant's pretreatment system. Attendees will learn about the innovative equipment selection and design features that improved maintenance and increased capacity. The presentation will also share valuable lessons learned during the multi-year construction process. Additionally, operational data on the performance of the new pretreatment equipment will be presented, making it essential for anyone involved in similar projects.
10:55 AM 6.6 Lake Huron B Jaime Fleming City of Wyoming Superpower Status Activated! "The things that make us different - those are our superpowers." ~Lena Waithe    Every person has a superpower.  And we know from the universe of superhero lore that the strongest teams are formed when people with unique powers come together around a common cause. Do you know what superpower you bring to the team?  Do you know how to identify and appreciate other superpowers?      In this presentation we will:  - Explore interpersonal differences (generational, communication and relational styles, etc) and recognize the power of diversity  - Identify the powers your team needs and how to recruit talented superheroes  - Learn how to enhance, leverage, and combine our powers to become (nearly) invincible    
11:30 AM 6.7 Lake Huron B Samarhia Giffel City of Grand Rapids Water System Communication During a Crisis via Social Media Communicating with the public through social media platforms must be strategic for your organization to position itself as a trusted resource. When a crisis strikes, social media communication can become very stressful especially without understanding the process and without having a plan. Learn the phases of crisis management and how to effectively use your social media platforms during each phase.
1:35 PM 7.1 Lake Huron B Mark Beatty UTILITY TECHNOLOGIES, LLC Technologies and Techniques for Water Loss Management The state of the industry in leak detection and prevention technologies will be shown. Attendees will learn now to integrate water loss management with GIS and Asset Management databases. Non-traditional leak detection technologies will be presented such as K-9, thermal imaging, tracer gas, and artificial intelligence or AI. Proactive methods of water loss management will be encouraged including leak and pressure monitoring and logging. The importance and integration of metering data and accuracy will be emphasized. 
2:10 PM 7.2 Lake Huron B Scott Humphrey, P.E., GISP HDR Elevated Storage Evaluation using InfoWater Pro for Lansing Board of Water and Light HDR and BWL developed an extended period simulation water model to evaluate storage alternatives and develop an operational strategy to incorporate elevated storage into the BWL water distribution system.
2:45 PM 7.3 Lake Huron B Evan Biedenbach Pure Technologies U.S. Inc. Novi’s Most Critical Asset – Managed through proactive Condition Assessment and Operational Determination This joint presentation will showcase how the City of Novi successfully safeguarded its water system by proactively assessing a large-diameter transmission main. We will explore the key factors that drove this inspection, including the high risk and severe consequences of potential failure. The discussion will also cover the challenges faced, how they were addressed, and the outcomes of the inspection—highlighting the significant reduction in failure risk achieved through these efforts.
3:30 PM 7.4 Lake Huron B Molly Maciejewski Ann Arbor Water Swimming Upstream: A Multi-Faceted Approach to Protecting Ann Arbor’s Source Water In March 2024, Ann Arbor Water completed its first Comprehensive Source Water Protection Plan. The Source Water Protection Plan considered the impact of many factors on source water protection, including things like emergency preparedness, climate change, and land use, and provides recommended actions to work regionally to better protect our drinking water sources.  This presentation will discuss the approach, key considerations, lessons learned, outcomes, and early implementation of the Comprehensive Source Water Protection plan. It will provide valuable information for groundwater and surface water utilities interested in developing a robust source water plan through internal and external stakeholder collaboration. 
1:35 PM 8.1 Ballroom 1 Chuck Ramirez Clear Creek Systems PFAS: What to do Before You Do It This presentsation will provide an overview of the current PFAS regulations as well as providing an overview of current commercial technologies designed to help  meet the MCLs. The presentation will also offer a roadmap to follow in developing a treatment system for drinking and non drinking water applications. The presentation will also discuss the options available for destruction and disposal of media contaminated with PFAS.
2:10 PM 8.2 Ballroom 1 Bailey Hannah Fishbeck A Data-Driven Approach to Improving Aquifer Property Estimates for Michigan’s Water Withdrawal Assessment Tool (WWAT) Michigan’s Water Withdrawal Assessment Tool (WWAT) is used to help communities, professionals, and regulatory agencies evaluate proposed water withdrawals and their potential impact on proximate streams and rivers. Hydrogeological parameters of the model include transmissivity of glacial and bedrock aquifers, aquifer thickness, streambed conductance, and aquifer storage coefficients. Advancements in data availability, geostatistical interpolation methods, and computational abilities now allow for significant improvements in the aquifer property estimates. This project aims to update the aquifer property data used in the WWAT, using advanced modeling techniques to modernize the tool to better represent the groundwater of Michigan. This project will strengthen the WWAT’s ability to evaluate withdrawals, improving monitoring strategies for groundwater availability in Michigan and enhancing the ability of stakeholders to make informed decisions about resource management.
2:45 PM 8.3 Ballroom 1 Sally Duffy Hubbell Roth and Clark Cross-Cultural and Generational Collaboration for a Sustainable Water Future The water industry continues to grow and face new regulatory challenges, while also facing significant turnover and retirement in the industry. As the workforce changes, there may be issues working with demographics not formerly represented in the industry. This presentation looks at intercultural and intergenerational communication and its importance when facing the future of the water world.
3:30 PM 8.4 Ballroom 1 Matthew Charles, PE Hazen and Sawyer The Filter Files: Lessons Learned from Evaluating and Optimizing Granular Media Filters Filters are the heart of a water treatment plant and are a critical barrier against pathogens. Optimizing performance enhances the protection of public health while also providing operational and financial benefits to a utility. This presentation will cover three aspects of getting the best possible performance out of a plant’s filtration process: pretreatment optimization, physical condition assessment, and backwash optimization. Each topic will be supported by in-the-field examples of where they were implemented and the benefits obtained.
1:35 PM 9.1 Ballroom 2 Jane Burnett HDR The Value of a Phased Approach: Assessing Aging Infrastructure with Pressure Data Understanding the condition of buried infrastructure is paramount for utility owners looking to create system resiliency and minimize the likelihood of main breaks. Reviewing available pressure data for buried linear assets is a relatively low-cost assessment methodology which provides valuable information that aids in the identification of system management improvements. Additionally, if high-resolution condition assessment methodologies are performed, incorporating data from the pressure analysis into the pipeline renewal decision process can help to simplify decisions and can ultimately help utility owners effectively assess and manage system risk. Using Great Lakes Water Authority’s 36-inch Transmission Main of 24 Mile Road as a case study, this paper will discuss the benefits of evaluating pipeline pressure, considering overall risk reduction and improved renewal recommendations when performed in tandem with high-resolution inspection methodologies. Incorporating available pressure data into the pipeline condition assessment and renewal decision process helped to identify a solution to renew the transmission main. 
2:10 PM 9.2 Ballroom 2 Sam Szaroletta Spicer Group High Pressure Zone Creation, Booster Station Inception, and Complementing Booster Stations (oh my) In 2023 Thomas Township was approached by an industrial entity exploring the feasibility of building a large-scale manufacturing facility that would be located directly adjacent to the Township’s existing top water user.  The proposed water demand was studied and was determined to have negative effects on the water system that required installation of a booster station as well as creation of a high-pressure district to support the two industrial users.  Additionally, the added water usage requires upgrades to the Gratiot Road booster station, which supplies drinking water to Thomas Township, and other communities to provide future growth for the communities and allow for a factor of safety during peak water usage of the system.  The Gratiot Road booster station was limited by a variety of design constraints and required an unconventional approach to upgrading the system.  Ultimately, the selected upgrade repurposed one of the three repumps used in distributing onsite storage water into the system to allow for the station to be upgraded from a triplex to a quadplex station to provide adequate flow for the communities being served.
2:45 PM 9.3 Ballroom 2 David McPherson HDR Transient Control and Mitigation, a System Approach Hydraulic transient modeling in a water ‘system’ is a mature science, and with that, very rarely are there unique or misunderstood causes of adverse hydraulic transients in a system. Because of this many engineers default to their experience to select, size and site hydraulic transient control. The fatal flaw to this ‘been there, know that’ approach is the word ‘system’. Although the transient issues are well known, every ‘system’ is unique and how the transient pressures propagate and reflect within the system will control type, location, and size of the control required.  
3:30 PM 9.4 Ballroom 2 Ivan Ivanov Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Paying for Water Infrastructure Projects: Municipal Bonds  This presentation shares analysis on how municipalities in Michigan and other states are using public debt markets to finance water infrastructure investments. It reviews data on the use of water revenue bonds and general obligation bonds and discusses municipal borrowing costs. 
4:00PM 10.1 Lake Huron B Jason Berndt Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy EGLE Source Water Protection Program and Grant Opportunities The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division (DWEHD), has established minimum requirements to obtain approval of a community’s source water protection program plan (SWPP).  This presentation will discuss each of the seven required elements of a program plan, transitioning from assessments to protection planning, and the periodic update of a SWPP plan, and also eligibility, application process, funding distribution, and reporting requirements for grant opportunities for the development and implementation of a SWPP plan. 
Friday, September 12
 Date   Time   Presentation # and Room   Lead Presenter   Organization   Presentation Title   Presentaton Description 
Friday, September 12, 2025 8:25 AM 11.1 Lake Huron B Jean-Pierre Nshimyimana Michigan Depart of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Lessons learned and best practices for lead service line replacement in the State of Michigan  EGLE has established a program to provide a platform for water supplies to share best practices and lesson learned for lead service line replacement (LSLR) in Michigan. This program aims to foster mutual technical support, disseminate best practices, encourage sharing key logistics contacts for material acquisition and contracting, and support sharing of community engagement strategies among Michigan communities working on the removal lead or galvanized previously connected to lead (GPCL) service lines. 
9:30 AM 11.2 Lake Huron B Haran  Stanley Great Lakes Water Authority Exploring Best Practices in the Management of Water Assistance Programs: A Case Study of the Great Lakes Water Authority’s Water Assistance Program In the United States, many households face challenges in affording their water bills. This issue disproportionally affects lower-income households, senior citizens, and individuals with permanent disabilities, as they often live on fixed incomes or have limited financial resources. In response to this need, the Great Lakes Water Authority implemented the Water Residential Assistance Program (WRAP) in 2016.     This program provides direct assistance to households requiring help with their water bill payments and any arrearage owed. A key component of WRAP includes a comprehensive home water audit that assesses the indoor plumbing for any issues that may be contributing to excessive water bills. Over the past four years, nearly 50,000 households have benefited from the services provided by WRAP, highlighting its significant positive impact on residents throughout Southeastern Michigan.  
10:30 AM 11.3 Lake Huron B Aaron Davenport, PE Jones & Henry Engineers, Ltd Drill, Baby, Drill...the Continuing Saga of Battle Creek's Wellfield Rehabilitation Project and Inadvertently Proving Why It Was So Critical Following last year’s critically acclaimed MI-AWWA presentation, “How a Hunch, Operator Experience, Investigation & Regulatory Transparency Led to the Largest Wellfield Rehabilitation Project in State History,” Perry Hart and Aaron Davenport return with an exciting progress update on this groundbreaking initiative.    Join them as they share insights from the drilling, development, testing, and permitting of 22 new 16-inch diameter, Type-I drinking water wells, including two in a high-traffic public park. They’ll take the audience through the challenges, successes, and unexpected twists that have shaped this massive wellfield rehabilitation project.    Perry and Aaron will also unravel a fascinating case of “unintended consequences”, where old failed well casings, autumn leaf fall, and aquifer testing of new wells combined in an unexpected way to validate the necessity of this project with uncanny precision. Additionally, they’ll discuss the City’s approach to managing the total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) that arose as a result.  
11:00 AM 11.4 Lake Huron B Mike Compagnoni Midwest Strategies Group Policy Update from Midwest Strategy Group  
11:30 AM 11.5 Lake Huron B Brian Thurston EGLE EGLE's Drinking Water and Enviromental Health Division Update  
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