Upcoming Events  

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8.5 Square Mile Area (SMA) Limited Curtain Wall 

Webinar Summary

The 8.5 SMA Limited Curtain Wall (8.5 SMA) is part of the modification of the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Project for Modified Water Deliveries (MWD) into Everglades National Park (ENP) authorized by Section 104 of the Everglades National Park and Expansion Act of 1989 (Public Law 101‐229) as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003 (Public Law 108‐7), and South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is the project sponsor. The 8.5 SMA area is comprised of low‐density urban and agricultural landscapes. It is surrounded by levees and is adjacent to ENP on its western and northern borders and is adjacent to more intensively developed urban lands to its east. This area receives significant amounts of groundwater seepage from ENP, particularly during wet periods and there have been several projects and features constructed since 2000 to manage water levels within this location and surrounding areas as well as land acquisition.

Despite the previous efforts, the 8.5 SMA area still flooded for several months due to its proximity to the ENP, low topography, and lack of drainage.  The intent of the project was to efficiently manage seepage to control groundwater flow and levee seepage, leaving the ENP and Water Conservation Area 3B (WCA-3B), while maintaining an appropriate amount of groundwater flow to minimize impacts to Miami-Dade County’s West Wellfield and appropriate levels of freshwater flows to Biscayne Bay.

Seminar Scope: The webinar intends to present the multidisciplinary approach to the design and construction of a seepage barrier between the 8.5 SMA and the ENP.  The project received the 2023 Distinguished Engineering Project Achievement Award by The Engineer’s Council and the 2023 Honor Award in Environmental Sustainability by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

About the Presenter

Mr. Vazquez has more than 38 years of civil engineering experience including the preparation of stormwater master plans, drainage studies, and street improvements. He is author and co-author of several technical reports on water resources studies, hydrologic-hydraulic modeling, and bridge hydraulic/scours analyses for presentation and publications. He was coauthor of the Florida Department of Transportation Exfiltration Design Drainage Handbook and is also a member of the Florida Greenbook Drainage Subcommittee. Currently, he is a licensed Professional Engineer registered in Virginia, Michigan, Puerto Rico, and Florida. He is also a Professional Hydrologist (PH) and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) specializing in water supply and waste water.  At RJ Behar & Company, Inc., he manages the Water Resources and Environmental Department.

Webinar Format

This will be an interactive session with "live chat" capability. The session is open to environmental engineering and science professionals across all sectors and career stages. Our objective is to offer special insights on leading edge solutions for graduate and undergraduate students as well as early to mid-career environmental professionals who are considering specialty certification.

AAEES Board Certified Individuals: Attend this event and earn 1.5 PDHs towards your PDH requirements for maintaining your specialty certification.

Register for the June 7 Webinar

City Underwater: The Ongoing Challenge of
New Orleans Drinking Water Management

presented by

City Underwater: The Ongoing Challenge of New Orleans Drinking Water Management

Half of New Orleans sits below sea level, and parts of its land are sinking 2 inches per year. The Crescent City has been hit by numerous hurricanes and storms and is protected from flood waters by a system of levees and pumps. The system is not only challenged by Mother Nature’s fury, operators must overcome a storied, but antiquated system and components. This presentation retraces the steps from the disastrous effects of Hurricane Katrina and subsequent efforts to repair and update the system, both in terms of equipment and the attempts to modernize the control system.

About the Presenters

Scott Warren, P.E.

Scott Warren, controls system technical lead for Stanley Consultants, has served as project manager and lead control system engineer providing detailed design for instrumentation and control systems on a wide variety of power plants, central heating and cooling plants and water treatment plants. He has extensive experience with DCS- and PLC-based control systems and has designed, tested and commissioned Emerson Ovation DCS, Siemens PCS7 and Siemens S7-300 PLCs.

Kate Despinoy, P.E., P.M.P.

Kate is a senior environmental engineer with Stanley Consultants in the firm’s Chicago office. Kate is a client service manager and senior engineer in the water and wastewater group. She has domestic and international experience as a project engineer and project manager, working with municipal, industrial and federal clients since 2007. She is experienced in the design, bid, award and construction management of large-scale multi-discipline projects. She has experience in the design of water wells and distribution systems; sewer collection, pumping and treatment facilities; and drainage collection and detention systems.

Webinar Format

This will be an interactive session with "live chat" capability. The session is open to environmental engineering and science professionals across all sectors and career stages. Our objective is to offer special insights on leading edge solutions for graduate and undergraduate students as well as early to mid-career environmental professionals who are considering specialty certification.

AAEES Board Certified Individuals: Attend this event and earn 1.5 PDHs towards your PDH requirements for maintaining your specialty certification.

Register for the July 19 webinar

Thank You to Our Webinar Sponsor

Improving Lives Since 1913. Stanley Consultants has been helping clients solve essential and complex energy and infrastructure challenges for over 100 years, successfully completing more than 50,000 engagements in 110 countries and all 50 states and U.S. territories. Values-based and purpose-driven, Stanley is an employee-owned company of engineers, scientists, technologists, innovators and client-service experts who are recognized for their commitment and passion to make a difference. For more information on Stanley Consultants, please visit http://www.stanleyconsultants.com. 

Boulder County Climate Equity Visualization

presented by

Webinar Summary

About the Presenters

Paul Chinowsky is the founder and president of Resilient Analytics, a Stanley Consultants company, and the director of the program in environmental design at the University of Colorado Boulder. His consulting approach is to incorporate an evolutionary approach to climate adaptation to increase the resiliency on client projects. He earned his PH.D. in civil engineering from Stanford University.

Webinar Format

This will be an interactive session with "live chat" capability. The session is open to environmental engineering and science professionals across all sectors and career stages. Our objective is to offer special insights on leading edge solutions for graduate and undergraduate students as well as early to mid-career environmental professionals who are considering specialty certification.

AAEES Board Certified Individuals: Attend this event and earn 1.5 PDHs towards your PDH requirements for maintaining your specialty certification.

Register Today for the September 13 Webinar

Thank You to Our Webinar Sponsor

Improving Lives Since 1913. Stanley Consultants has been helping clients solve essential and complex energy and infrastructure challenges for over 100 years, successfully completing more than 50,000 engagements in 110 countries and all 50 states and U.S. territories. Values-based and purpose-driven, Stanley is an employee-owned company of engineers, scientists, technologists, innovators and client-service experts who are recognized for their commitment and passion to make a difference. For more information on Stanley Consultants, please visit http://www.stanleyconsultants.com. 

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