Water: Cycles, Consumption & Design
Saturday January 5th, 10-3pm
Take a walk with Dr. Andrea Neal, Bert Rapp and Connor Jones “from our faucets back to the watershed.” A day dedicated to understanding water, hosted in the City of Ojai Community Demonstration Garden. We will have a presentation in Help of Ojai’s Kent Hall, Q & A brown bag lunch, followed by an educational walk in the garden.
Presentations and discussions lead by:
Dr. Andrea Neal
Scientist/Entrepreneur
Over the last decade Dr. Neal (“Dr.Dre”) has become an innovator in disruptive businesses that help protect, preserve, and monitor our natural resources. Dr. Neal takes a system approach to problems, integrating multiple disciplines and networks to develop solutions. Dr. Neal was first introduced to interdisciplinary research, while at Purdue University, and fell in love with combining biological sciences with physics and engineering. Her current company Primary Water Resources, LLC is working on locating, securing, and distributing ground water resources to assure safe, clean, affordable drinking water for people and our agriculture production resources.
Bert Rapp
General Manager of Ventura River Water District
Bert Rapp has been a long time resident of Ojai for 38 years. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Bert has spent 5-Years working with the Ventura County Watershed Protection District working on levee design, river hydraulics and hydrology. Bert worked for 20 years with the City of Fillmore as the City Engineer/Public Works Director focused on potable water system, sanitary sewer system, storm water treatment and management, traffic control, street maintenance, and flood control. Bert has been fearlessly leading Ventura River Water District as General Manager for 7 years.
Connor Jones
Permaculture Designer and Founder of East End Eden
Connor Jones is a certified permaculture designer and teacher with a lifelong fascination for ecology, anthropology, and traditional food systems. As a child he marveled at the wonders of nature in immersion with it and in small assembled ecosystems created at home. Later in life farming, and his love for ecology began to merge with the introduction to permaculture design. His discoveries led him to the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia at the age of 18 where he became certified to design and teach. Since then he has founded East End Eden a 10 acre family operated permaculture demonstration site in Ojai, California where he teaches regular workshops and offers mentorship opportunities through farm work trade positions. East End Eden is also a nursery for varied perennial crops well suited to the bioregion. Connor also has a permaculture design and consulting company that offers clients sound advice for improving their yields and land value through applied ecological design.
Where: Ojai Community Demonstration Garden
When: Saturday, January 5, 10am-3pm
Biking: There is a bike rack to lock up your bike.
Parking: Please Park in the lot on S Blanche S and W Santa Ana St. Or the Help of Ojai parking lot.
What to bring: Pad of paper, pen/pencil, refillable water bottle, and wear comfortable shoes.
We will NOT be providing lunch for this workshop. Please bring one with you.
We will have a water bottle refill station.
This special workshop is hosted and sponsored by The Ojai Valley Green Coalition, The City of Ojai and Ventura River Water District.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
34.4437847-119.246842
If your attention is closer to the ground – this is the month to plan your spring garden. See our 
much larger issues that adversely affect the entire community. While the majority of fire suppression costs are reimbursed via federal/state sources, the community must rebuild itself physically and mentally.
