California State University, Bakersfield will host alumnus Rob Swartz, principal project manager of the Regional Water Authority in Sacramento, who will present "California's Water Future: At the Crossroads of Science and Policy" on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 4 p.m. in Science III, room 108.

California's recent drought has once again shown the vulnerability of our water supply system. Unlike the previous 1987-1992 drought, this most recent dry period includes factors that have made its impacts significantly worse. Despite this bleak outlook, today's water supply planners are taking an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to resolving these issues, giving hope for a brighter water supply future. The greatest challenge to success may be the ability to better integrate good science with good policy in making decisions for today and tomorrow.

Swartz's talk is part of CSUB's School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics public seminar series. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the series is part of the Pipeline to High Tech Professions project whose main purpose is to provide scholarships to science majors.