Interesting Times: Water in a Time of Turbulence

Jessica Brody has served as Denver Water’s General Counsel since 2018.  Prior to Denver Water, Ms. Brody worked as an associate at Arnold & Porter, LLP, an international law firm, where she specialized in environmental law and complex litigation.  Ms. Brody then served as the lead environmental lawyer for the City and County of Denver and then as an Assistant Director within the City Attorney’s Office.

Ms. Brody earned a bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College and a law degree from the Yale Law School.

Ms. Brody also serves as the Denver Metro basin director on the Colorado Water Conservation Board and previously served as Chair of that board.

Matthew (Matt) Holmes has served as CEO of the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) since 2020, following more than 20 years with the organization. He began his career supporting small, rural, and tribal communities in New Mexico, helping modernize utility systems and ensure access to safe drinking water. Over the years, he advanced from grassroots efforts to state and national leadership roles.  As CEO, Matt reports to a volunteer Board of Directors representing 50 State Rural Water Associations and over 30,000 water and wastewater utilities nationwide. He oversees programs that deliver on-the-ground technical assistance in regulatory compliance, financial sustainability, workforce development, utility management, source water protection, and more—benefiting over 80,000 water professionals annually across all 50 states, tribal nations, and U.S. territories.  Previously NRWA’s Deputy CEO for six years, Matt managed national operations and led the Association’s disaster response coordination. In 2017, he spearheaded the development of Department of Labor–approved National Guideline Standards of Apprenticeship, helping launch numerous registered apprenticeship programs for the water sector workforce.  Matt holds an M.A. in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of New Mexico and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Arizona. A native of Los Alamos, New Mexico, he is an Eagle Scout, lifelong outdoorsman, and holds certifications in avalanche rescue and rifle marksmanship.

Tracy is Executive Director, Government Affairs, for the American Water Works Association (AWWA).  He was an independent consultant and served as Interim President of the U.S. Water Alliance and national Source Water Protection Coordinator for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities.  He is also an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University School of Law and Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College.  He was Principal with The Cadmus Group, Inc., an environmental consulting firm, from 2004 to 2014.  Mehan served as Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2001-2003.  He served as Environmental Stewardship Counselor to the 2004 G-8 Summit Planning Organization (2004).  Mehan also served as director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes (1993-2001) and as Associate Deputy Administrator of EPA in 1992.  He was director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources from 1989 to 1992.  Mehan is a graduate of Saint Louis University and its School of Law.  Mehan served on the Water Science and Technology Board and now the Committee on the Mississippi River and the Clean Water Act for the National Research Council of the National Academies.  He was also an independent expert judge for the City Water Conservation Achievement Award program (2006 & 2011) sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and its Urban Water Council.

Mehan is a member of the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and a regular book reviewer for ELI’s flagship publication, The Environmental Forum.

Mehan serves on EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board as well as the boards of the U.S. Water Alliance and the Great Lakes Observing System.  He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Environmental Policy, School of Public Affairs, American University and a past member of the board of the Potomac Conservancy (2006-2014).

Bruno Pigott serves as the Executive Director of the WateReuse Association.  The Association is the nation’s only trade association solely dedicated to advancing laws, policy, funding and public education about recycled water.    Bruno served as the Acting Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA from 2021-2025.  As Acting Assistant Administrator, he served as a Co-Chair of the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force.  Prior to that he worked at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) from 2000-2021.  He served as the Commissioner of IDEM from 2017-2021.  In that capacity, he also served as a Commissioner on the Great Lakes Commission and a Commissioner on the Ohio River Basin Sanitation Commission.  He worked in a variety of positions in IDEM’s Office of Water Quality, including Chief of the SRF program, the NPDES Compliance Branch, the NPDES Permits Branch and the Assistant Commissioner.  Bruno’s goal in life was to be the right fielder for the Detroit Tigers, but somehow he was overlooked by the scouts.  He holds a Masters Degree from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a BA from Michigan State University.

Diana Rodriguez is a sustainability, trade and public policy professional with 15 years of experience driving policy results within government, private sector and think tanks. Expertise in trade finance, financial regulation, and ESG. Demonstrated ability to execute global policy initiatives to advance business priorities and to forge vital partnerships with policymakers, multilateral institutions, corporations, and trade associations to drive policy results. Fluent in Spanish and conversational in Portuguese.