West Los Angeles UCLA Fund Chancellor’s Society Salon

Lessons From the Drought: Why Local Water Self-Sufficiency is so Critical

With California facing one of the most severe droughts on record, the importance of increased reliance on local water supplies and conservation has never been greater. Associate Vice Chancellor Gold will speak about the technologies and strategies being explored to address the drought and why it is so critical to transition to local water self-sufficiency.

AVC Gold will also engage in a conversation about the exciting campus-wide Sustainable LA Grand Challenge through which UCLA has committed to develop a comprehensive plan to transition the county by 2050 to 100% renewable energy, 100% locally sourced water, and enhanced ecosystem health. He will share key components of the recently published Sustainable LA Grand Challenge 5-Year Work Plan. This Work Plan features over 100 critical research recommendations for charting a pathway for Los Angeles County to achieve the Sustainable LA goals.

About Mark Gold ’84, M.A. ’86, D. Env. ’94

Mark Gold is the UCLA Associate Vice-Chancellor for Environment and Sustainability and was recently the Acting Director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. In his current position, he works to increase interdisciplinary environmental research, and he is leading UCLA’s Sustainable LA Grand Challenge – with goals of achieving 100% local water supply and 100% renewable energy in Los Angeles County while enhancing biodiversity and human health and wellbeing by 2050. He worked with 28 faculty to develop the Sustainable LA workplan, and there are over 150 faculty that are part of the Sustainable LA research team. Also, he was the long-time President of the environmental group, Heal the Bay. Mark received his Bachelors and Masters in Biology and his doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering from UCLA. He has worked extensively over the last 25 years in the field of coastal protection, water management, and urban sustainability; he created Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card for the west coast of the U.S., served as vice chair of the Santa Monica Bay Commission for over a decade, helped create Santa Monica’s sustainable city plan – the first in the U.S., and helped co-author numerous California and local government coastal protection, water quality and environmental education bills and ordinances. Recently, he led efforts to develop LA County’s first environmental report card and assisted the City of LA on the development of their first ever sustainable city plan. He is currently leading a research effort on sustainable water management in the city of Los Angeles, and he sits on Mayor Garcetti’s Water Cabinet and the Proposition O stormwater bond Citizens Oversight and Advisory Committee.

This event is invite only.