Blake Anderson is an independent
consultant specializing in strategic planning, describing environmental public
policy, drafting public policy, providing senior level planning advice on
public infrastructure decision-making, organizational development, facilitating
conflict resolution and addressing regulatory matters related to water quality
protection, public infrastructure, water supply and environmental issues. He works independently and in
association with other firms for public sector and private sector clients.
Mr. Anderson’s latest work has been
involved in strategic planning for two different public agencies in Southern
California. Both agencies are
facing significant challenges related to new regulations and forecasting future
capacity needs. In association
with a large national firm and working closely with senior staff and the
governing boards, Mr. Anderson has brought his unique experience to bear by
listening effectively, challenging perceptions, offering constructive
solutions, facilitating problem solving and mentoring key leaders at the
agencies.
Mr. Anderson was the General Manager of
the Orange County Sanitation District for five years and with the agency for 25
years in number of leadership capacities. The Sanitation District provides wastewater collection,
treatment and disposal services to over two million people living and working
in metropolitan Orange County. It is the sixth largest agency of its type in
the United States and the third largest in California. He had oversight
responsibilities for the programs and facilities necessary to ensure compliance
with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, the South Coast Air
Quality Management District, and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. The agency had a $2 billion capital
improvement program underway providing system upgrades, rehabilitation and new
capacity.
Mr. Anderson’s lasting legacy at the
agency is creating a cooperative and trusting relationship with the regional
water quality control board, the environmental community, the business
community and the press. He
promoted open and timely communication with all sectors of the community. He insisted on proactive and
responsible responses by the Sanitation District on all public policy issues it
addressed.
Under his leadership, the agency changed
the way it planned, designed and maintained its facilities, embracing asset
management methods and other business principles to effectively address the
environmental, social, and fiscal needs and considerations of a large and
dynamic metropolitan area.
Mr. Anderson proposed the concept and helped
to influence the joint decision of the Sanitation District and the Orange
County Water District to plan, finance and build the world’s largest
reclamation plant using advanced treatment technology. The plant is expected to produce 70
million gallons per day of highly treated water by 2007.
While with the Sanitation District, Mr.
Anderson served on the Executive Committee of the Orange County Business
Council and its Public Infrastructure Committee. He was a founding board member
of the California Rebuild American Coalition (CalRAC) whose purpose was to
identify and publicize the need to adequately maintain, rehabilitate and fund
public infrastructure.
Mr. Anderson has been active in watershed
management and other public policy issues related to integrated planning. He co-founded
the Santa Ana River Watershed Group (SARWG), an ad hoc association of water and
wastewater agencies, the dairy industry, state and federal regulators, and
general-purpose local government. SARWG addressed water supply, water quality
and habitat issues in this highly urbanized watershed with the largest single
concentration of dairy animals in California.
Mr. Anderson co-founded the Orange County
Leadership Symposium and worked on the planning committee that provided annual
weekend retreats for Orange County elected officials from 2002 to 2005.
He has served in a number of volunteer and
leadership capacities in state-wide and national professional organizations
dealing with water pollution and environmental and public health protection.
He has testified before Congress and
written on the concept of watershed protection as a management tool for state
and local governments. Mr. Anderson was a member of two National Research
Council (NRC) Water Science and Technology Board Committees, creating a 1998 report
on watershed management and a 1993 report on wastewater management for urban
coastal areas.
Mr. Anderson served as the Special
Districts’ representative on the Orange County Investment Pool Committee, which
helped resolve the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
He is active in a number of volunteer
activities including the Orange County Chapter of Water for People, Newport Bay
Naturalists and Friends and the University of California School of Civil and
Environmental Engineering Affiliates. He is involved with the Southern California Motorcycling
Association in a number of capacities including as its risk management officer
and the chairman of an annual two-day long distance ride called the Grand Tour.
He received a BS in civil engineering from
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He attended Harvard University’s Kennedy School of
Government summer program for state and local officials. He is a registered civil engineer in
California and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the
Sierra Club, and the Water Environment Federation. He is a native Californian. He and wife reside in Santa Ana, California. He is an avid
long-distance motorcyclist, traveling 20,000 miles a year in the United States,
Mexico and Canada.