Jeff is the Executive Director of the Colorado Watershed Assembly (CWA). Jeff is a hydrologist specializing in stream restoration, irrigation diversion and habitat enhancement projects with a major emphasis in water resource engineering and hydrology. As Executive Director Jeff's primary responsibility is to improve public awareness of watershed issues by working to ensure that CWA serves as a statewide voice for watershed groups, provides an ongoing mechanism to funnel additional resources, and amplifies local public outreach and educational efforts.
 

As CWA Executive Director, Jeff built an electronic information network and database that informs local watershed organizations about funding opportunities, training programs, conferences, job openings, events and relevant watershed news in weekly newsletters and monthly water reports. The network also keeps agencies abreast of local watershed initiatives across the state. Under Jeff's leadership, the Assembly developed a partnership with the Colorado Division of Wildlife to manage the Division's River Watch program. River Watch engages hundreds of student and adult volunteers to monitor local streams and rivers and use that data to assist the State in administering the Clean Water Act. River Watch's monitoring data is managed by another Assembly program, the Colorado Data Sharing Network, which makes this and other water quality data easily accessible to the general public.
 

Jeff was a founding member and the first Executive Director of the North Fork River Improvement Association in Hotchkiss. The Association was established in 1996 as a volunteer coalition aimed at restoring the ecological health of the North Fork of the Gunnison River for the benefit of all water interests within the community. Jeff developed numerous collaborations with a wide variety of stakeholders for different community projects designed to improve stream stability, riparian habitat, and ecosystem function. He used consensus-building techniques to develop a watershed restoration action strategy designed to be acceptable to the river's diverse community interests, including riverfront landowners, hunting and fishing groups, gravel mining companies, environmental groups, farmers and ranchers, irrigation companies, and recreational groups.
 

Jeff received the University of Colorado Wirth Chair award in Environmental and Community Development Policy in 2000 for collaborative restoration work on the North Fork and an Environmental Achievement Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2002 for outstanding leadership in building a watershed partnership. In 2008 the Assembly was awarded the Robert V. Menary Award for the Environment by the El Pomar Foundation for its work supporting local watershed organizations.
 

Jeff is a member of the Water Resources Subcommittee for Club 20, an organization of western Colorado counties, businesses and individuals. He also served on the Gunnison Basin Roundtable for the Statewide Water Supply Initiative. Jeff currently serves as an advisor to the EPA Administrator on the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology.