September 17-19, 2019

Celebrating History and Soul, NWC Gathers in Memphis for the 2019 Annual Meeting and the City’s Bicentennial

Commemorating the founding of the city 200 years ago on the Chickasaw bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, NWC members and guests convened at the legendary Peabody Hotel, as the landmark celebrates its 150^th anniversary. Reflecting NWC’s growth in size and influence, attendance this year surpassed the record level numbers we experienced last year in New Orleans!

The conference program opened with a Keynote Address by the Honorable R.D. James, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, followed by presentations from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters leaders, Eddie Belk, Chief of the Programs Integration Division, and Tom Smith, Chief of Operations and Regulatory.

The regional spotlight featured a trio of new District Commanders, Colonel Zach Miller from Memphis, Colonel Rob Hilliard from Vicksburg, and Colonel Stephen Murphy from New Orleans. They were followed by a provocative presentation from Ed Grimm, the president of Southern Towing Company, and a challenge by Stephen Gambrell of the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association to play our best game.

Major General Mark Toy, the new Commander of the Mississippi Valley Division, served as the lunch speaker, filling in for the Chief of Engineers, LTG Todd Semonite, who’d been called away for other business.

The Wednesday afternoon session provided a comprehensive look at current and emerging issues with presentations by Elliott Bouillion, President and CEO, RES (Resource Environmental Solutions); Ken Eriksen, Senior Vice President, Informa Economics; and Tom Kula, Executive Director, North Texas Municipal Water District

The Thursday morning session featured a panel of industry leaders who offered insight into how a comprehensive and collaborative approach to water resources management can yield multiple benefits, with Rick Johnson, Executive Director, Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency; Kirsten Wallace, Executive Director, Upper Mississippi River Basin Authority (UMRBA); Dustin Boatwright, Chief Engineer and Executive Vice President, Little River Drainage District, and Michael D. Klingner, PE, Chairman of the Upper Mississippi, Illinoi & Missouri Rivers Association (UMIMRA).

The program concluded with an outlook from our federal and state partners, including Gene Higginbotham, Projects Director for Senator John Boozman (Arkansas); Jay Sherrod, Projects Director for Rep. Rick Crawford (Arkansas); Jeff Parrish, State Counsel and Field Director for Senator Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), and Dan Pallme, Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Download 2019 Final Agenda (209KB)