In this episode, Paul explores what it's like to be an engineer at a water utility agency by interviewing Steve Johnson and Gerardo Maldonado, both of whom work at the Desert Water Agency (DWA). The DWA is responsible for importing water and managing groundwater in the Palm Spring and Cathedral City area (desert communities a couple hours east of Los Angeles). Steve is the Assistant Manager with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona (1993) and Gerardo is a Staff Engineer with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona (2019). In the interview, Steve and Gerardo discuss various projects they've worked on, they compare working for a public agency like DWA versus working for a private company, and they provide tips for engineering students who want to enter the field of water management.  

Website for the DWA: https://dwa.org/ 

Internship opportunities at the DWA are occasionally posted here: www.dwa.org/careers    

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Episode edited by Paul Nissenson. Recorded on June 11, 2021 via Zoom.