Atlanta Regional Event
March 12, 2026 • Atlanta, GeorgiaWater Resilience and Risk Management
Thursday, March 12, 2026 | 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM ESTKMCL Conference Center
1200 Peachtree Street NE
Midtown Atlanta, Georgia 30309
You’re invited to the Atlanta water resilience and risk management breakfast seminar hosted by GHD focused on issues driving the future of water management and emerging contaminants.
This breakfast seminar will bring together environmental managers, sustainability leaders and industry experts for an insightful discussion on:
This breakfast seminar will bring together environmental managers, sustainability leaders and industry experts for an insightful discussion on:
- Water supply reliability and drought resilience
- Water quality and emerging contaminants
- Stormwater, floods and climate resilience
- Regulatory horizon and litigation risk
- Industrial growth and “new” water users
- Equity, community trust and regional collaboration
Registration
Thanks to Our Host
Why Attend
Gain practical insights into Atlanta’s water resilience while hearing from industry specialists on PFAS risk management, water needs for population and economic growth and strategies to address emerging challenges. Connect with peers, share perspectives and explore solutions to improve Atlanta’s water resilience.
Attendee takeaways:
Attendees will:
Attendee takeaways:
Attendees will:
- Understand Atlanta’s Water Future
Gain clarity on the region’s water supply reliability, drought resilience strategies, and how industrial growth is shaping new water demands. - Navigate Emerging Contaminants and Regulatory Risks
Learn about PFAS risk management, upcoming regulatory changes, and litigation trends that could impact your organization. - Strengthen Climate and Stormwater Resilience
Explore practical approaches to managing stormwater, mitigating flood risks, and building climate-ready infrastructure. - Align with Equity and Community Trust Goals
Discover how regional collaboration and transparent engagement can foster trust and ensure equitable water solutions. - Prepare for Growth and Compliance
Understand how population and economic growth will influence water needs and what proactive steps businesses can take to stay ahead.
Agenda
7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.: Registration and Breakfast
8:00 a.m. - 8:10 a.m.: Welcome & Opening Remarks and Overview of MyCity
8:10 a.m. - 8:20 a.m.: Conversation Framing and Industry Perspectives of the Future of Water in the Atlanta Region
- Danny Johnson, Natural Resources Director - Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC)
- Dominic Weatherill, Water Programs Manager - Georgia Power
- Dr. Zhiyong Xia, National Emerging Contaminants Technical Leader - GHD
- Jennifer A. Simon, Partner - Kazmarek Mowrey Cloud Laseter LLP (KMCL)
- Greg Eyerly, Commissioner - Atlanta Department of Watershed Management
- Julie Byrd, Power & Utilities Market Leader - GHD
- Julie Byrd, Power & Utilities Market Leader - GHD
Speakers
Dr. Zhiyong Xia
National Emerging Contaminants Technical LeaderGHD
Dr. Zhiyong Xia currently serves as the senior technical director and PFAS practice technical leader for GHD. He has extensive experience in PFAS management (PFAS capture, PFAS destruction, PFAS testing and evaluation, and fate and transport), water purification (heavy metals and microbes and microplastics removal), atmospheric water harvesting, and novel materials. Prior to joining GHD, Dr. Xia was the chief scientist at Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory where his PFAS and water work had won the lab’s Invention of the Year Award three times (2022, 2021 and 2015). Dr. Xia has 19 US patents related to PFAS, water, and novel polymers. He is an author of more than 100 technical publications. Dr. Xia holds an adjunct professorship at Johns Hopkins University -Whiting School of Engineering. Dr. Xia received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University.
James Gregory Eyerly
CommissionerAtlanta Department of Watershed Management
Greg Eyerly brings over 32 years of extensive experience in the water and wastewater industry. He began his career as an entry-level operator in training and has advanced through various roles, including operator, utility worker, plant shift supervisor, plant manager, and regional manager. Most recently, he held the position of Director of Houston Water, where he successfully led a team of over 1,700 professionals. In this capacity, he was responsible for delivering comprehensive water and wastewater services, as well as overseeing strategic planning, regulatory compliance, and client relations for a service area that encompasses 5.58 million residents across 18 cities and 83 municipal districts.
In 2022, Greg identified an opportunity to enhance his service to the industry by addressing the challenges associated with the Consent Decree for Houston Water and facilitating the ongoing recovery efforts from Hurricane Harvey. This commitment led him to relocate from Oregon to Texas. By 2024, he took a proactive role in advocating for public transparency concerning Houston’s water infrastructure issues, engaging with local elected officials, business leaders, regulatory agencies, media outlets, and the Texas State Legislature. As a testament to his leadership and dedication, Houston Water was honored with the Water Environment Services Water Heroes Award and the Water Environment of Texas Heroic Service Award in 2025. Furthermore, Mr. Eyerly recently received the Water Leadership Award for Texas, recognizing him as the state’s outstanding water leader of the year.
Jennifer A. Simon
PartnerKazmarek Mowrey Cloud Laseter LLP
Jennifer engages in a wide variety of environmental, energy, toxic tort and product liability matters. In litigation, she represents clients in EPA and state agency cost recovery actions; private suits involving CERCLA, RCRA, the Clean Water Act (CWA) and various state counterpart statutes and common laws; state and federal regulatory enforcement actions; National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) challenges; insurance coverage disputes; toxic tort and product liability actions, including multidistrict litigation involving PFAS; and underground gas storage disputes. Jennifer has represented clients participating in government rulemaking processes and rule challenges, including those involving state water quality standards, federal MACT rules, CWA regulations including WOTUS, Endangered Species Act (ESA) rules and determinations, and National Priority List (NPL) listings. She also has a wide-ranging appellate and constitutional litigation practice, including filing numerous amici briefs on behalf of companies, coalitions, and public interest groups.
Jennifer has assisted companies across the nation in their environmental investigation and remediation efforts, both those conducted voluntarily through state cleanup programs and those mandated by judicial or administrative order, including the diverse permitting, contracting and regulatory aspects of managing large Superfund sites. She has particular expertise managing the cleanup of properties contaminated by former manufactured gas plants.
She has represented Fortune 50 companies, large national banks, and numerous smaller entities in transfers of contaminated properties as part of deals ranging from small brownfields sites to multi-billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions involving dozens of variously impacted properties, including railroads, dry cleaners, food processing plants, various agricultural operations, waste facilities, and gas stations.
She has served as environmental counsel on several large development projects involving complex environmental issues arising under the CWA, ESA, and Clean Air Act (CAA).
Finally, she regularly assists clients in navigating the myriad environmental laws and regulations encountered in routine operations, including permitting and compliance with the CWA, ESA, CERCLA, RCRA, CAA (including Title V), NEPA, Emergency Planning & Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), state property transfer acts, and environmental health and safety regulations. She has further advised several companies with respect to penalty mitigation and elimination through voluntary disclosure.
Jennifer received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in New York in 2005. While at Columbia, she served as the Assistant Executive Editor of the Columbia Business Law Review and was a student clerk for Hon. Joanna Seybert, U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She received her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 2002.
Jennifer joined KMCL Law in 2011 after practicing environmental law and litigation at King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta and Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago.
Danny Johnson
Natural Resources DirectorAtlanta Regional Commission (ARC)
Danny Johnson serves as the Managing Director of the Natural Resources Department of the Atlanta Regional Commission and Director of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District which coordinates the water resources management planning across 15 counties and 96 cities spanning six different river basins in Metro Atlanta. Prior to joining ARC in 2013, Mr. Johnson served as a water resources engineering consultant on water, wastewater and reuse infrastructure planning and design projects for public utilities in the southeast. Mr. Johnson is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Georgia, a graduate of the University of Georgia College of Engineering, and a resident of the City of Atlanta where he lives with his wife, Louisa, and two children.
Moderator
Julie Byrd
Power & Utilities Market LeaderGHD
Julie Byrd is the Southeast Power & Utilities Sector Leader at GHD, where she leads strategy and client development across the Southeast while supporting national growth in the power and utilities market. She brings more than two decades of environmental consulting experience spanning regulatory compliance, risk management, site investigation, and management systems auditing for public- and private-sector clients. She partners with utilities, industry leaders, and municipal agencies to navigate environmental issues like emerging contaminants such as PFAS, evolving water and wastewater regulations, and infrastructure resilience challenges that shape how and where growth can occur. Julie began her career with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s Hazardous Waste Management Branch, where she worked in the Response and Remediation Program and built a strong foundation in regulatory review, community engagement, and risk-based decision-making—experience she now leverages to convene cross-sector stakeholders and translate complex issues into practical strategies for resilience and sustainable growth in the Southeast and beyond.
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