Gwen Buchholz

Environmental Liaison

Gwen Buchholz is a registered civil engineer and has 44 years of experience and extensive knowledge of methods to convey, store, and deliver water throughout California, as well as knowledge of requirements of federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and California-based agencies including DWR, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Delta Stewardship Council, Bay Conservation and Development Commission, State Lands Commission, and State Water Resources Control Board. She is the Environmental Manager for the DCA.

Ms. Buchholz has been involved with the Delta Conveyance project since 2006, including development of alternatives and managing the water-related modeling analyses for the former WaterFix EIR/EIS, leading the Biological Assessment, and providing testimony for DWR/Reclamation in the former WaterFix water rights hearings; through these projects, assisted in integrating engineering and environmental analyses to develop practical and constructible facilities and implementable permit conditions.

Ms. Buchholz most relevant experience includes incorporating mitigation measures and permit requirements during the design and implementing the criteria during construction for the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant DB project; initial 100,000 acre-foot Los Vaqueros Reservoir; 48,000 feet of irrigation pipeline to convey recycled water to farms in coastal Monterey County; 20 miles of large-diameter pipelines (up to 120 inches in diameter) in central Contra Costa County; 6 miles of large-diameter pipeline and a water treatment plant in Anchorage, Alaska, and the American River levee rehabilitation near CalExpo.

Ms. Buchholz is an expert in integrating engineering and environmental requirements during planning, design, and construction management for water conveyance infrastructure projects throughout the Western U.S.; served as lead permit engineer, which included environmental compliance tasks, for large conveyance projects in California, Alaska, Arizona, and North Dakota.

View Gwen Buchholz’s Leadership Spotlight Presentation from the July 16, 2020 DCA Board of Directors Meeting: https://youtu.be/l9nc_dyZCyk