Karen Ross, California’s food and agricultural chief, and Lester Snow, former Natural Resources Secretary, are among the key speakers at an international groundwater conference this summer in San Francisco.

Ross will help kick off Toward Sustainable Groundwater in Agriculture: 2nd International Conference Linking Science and Policy during the opening plenary session June 28. The event runs through June 30 at the Hyatt Regency at the San Francisco Airport in Burlingame.

Snow, who now heads the Water Foundation, will be the keynote speaker at lunch on the first day.

This event will provide scientists, policymakers, agricultural and environmental stakeholders, government officials and consultants with the latest scientific, legal and policy advances for sustaining our groundwater resources in agricultural regions around the world.

Groundwater constitutes nearly half the world’s drinking water and much of the world’s irrigation water supply. Drought, overuse, groundwater salinity and nonpoint source pollution create water quality and supply conflicts around the globe.

These important issues and more will be discussed by approximately 200 speakers from around the world. Other key speakers include:

• Gordon Burns, Undersecretary of California Environmental Protection Agency
• Bill Alley, Science and Technology Director for the National Groundwater Association (NGWA)

This international conference is being organized by the Water Education Foundation and the UC Davis Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair.

Click here to find out more about this exciting conference.