Paul Selsky

Professional Civil Engineer

Sacramento, California
September 2024

I updated my online waterworks calculator website WaterWorksCalc.com.I also added this audio podcast discussion of my background. There is a 9 second delay after pressing the start arrow before the audio starts.

I am a licensed civil engineer in California with 48 years of experience. I provide water supply planning services to water agencies with a regional and policy-level focus.My experience includes being the:
• responsible engineer for 186 projects for 85 clients
• project manager for 154 of those projects with a cumulative total of $20 million in feesI have secured the majority of the projects that I have been the responsible engineer for. I was the sales leader for 127 of these projects, which included securing 27 new clients for BC.These projects included preparing 296 water studies. The number of studies by type are presented in the chart below.

I have also led:
• 25 design projects
• 16 construction inspection projectsMy contributions to the water industry include:
• presenting at 29 professional water conferences
• serving as chair of two professional organization committees
• assisting in writing three water manuals
• serving as 2024 chair of the Sacramento Groundwater Authority
• holding the position of an elected director of a water district for 27 yearsThis depth of experience provides a unique blend of knowledge and judgment to help clients reach well-informed decisions.

Engineers must be licensed in the state they practice in. Engineering license verification in California can be searched here.

Word cloud from my 41 page detailed resume. The size of the text is correlated to the frequency of the word.

I have led engineering projects for 85 clients with 37 being repeat clients.

Included with this website are photographs I have taken of several significant mountains. Mountain peaks represent for me a key feature of our natural world.

Torres del Paine, Chile, December 1971

© Paul Selsky. All rights reserved.

Career Highlights

Education
B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Virginia
Nido de Aguilas International School, Santiago, ChileRegistration
Professional Civil Engineer, No. 3495, Wyoming (lapsed)
Civil Engineer, No. 43544, CaliforniaEmployment (reverse chronological order)
Brown and Caldwell, Sacramento, California
Nelson Engineering, Jackson, Wyoming
National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Virginia Highway Research Council, Charlottesville, Virginia
NASA station, Peldehue, ChileProfessional Activities
Presented at 14 national and 15 regional water conferences
Prior chair of national and CA/NV AWWA committees
Coauthor of AWWA M22 Manual "Sizing Water Service Lines and Meters"
Reviewer of AWWA Climate Change Manual
Reviewer of AWWA Emergency Preparedness Manual
Instructor for AWWA CA/NV drought workshops and SAWWA operator class
Appointed to Sacramento Groundwater Authority (SGA) Board by County Supervisors in 2021
Elected to be vice chair of SGA for 2023 and chair in 2024
Invited participant with California and Texas water delegation visit to Denmark, September 2023

Grand Teton, Wyoming, November 1976

Water System Engineering Tools

I have developed a waterworks calculator website called WaterWorksCalc.com. The site provides a convenient location to quickly perform common water system engineering calculations. The site has pipe flow velocity, pipe sizing, and pump station energy use calculators.I have several spreadsheet water calculator models that I plan to make available in the near future.

Popocapapetyl, Mexico, March 1981

Presentations

I have given presentations on the subject of water supply at a variety of local, regional, and national water conferences.

  1. "Developing a Regional Surface Water Supply", American Water Resources Association, Denver, Colorado, November 1990.

  2. "California Water Supply Issues", California League of Food Processors, Sacramento, California, December 1991.

  3. "Nitrate and Water Quality Management through Water Exchanges", California Irrigation Institute, Fresno, California, January 1992.

  4. "Converting a Surface Water Supply from Agricultural to Municipal Use", American Water Works Association Annual Conference, Vancouver, B.C., June 1992.

  5. "Water Conservation Benefits of Metering’, California-Nevada Section, American Water Works Association Metering Workshop, Davis, California, June 1992.

  6. "Wellhead Treatment for Iron and Manganese", California-Nevada Section, American Water Works Association, Sacramento, California, May 1993.

  7. "Lessons Learned from Wellhead Treatment", American Water Works Association Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas, June 1993.

  8. “Integrating Water Conservation into Water Planning”, American Water Works Association, Las Vegas, NV, 1993.

  9. "Particle Count Testing and the Surface Water Treatment Rule", California-Nevada Section American Water Works Association, Source Magazine, Summer 1994.

  10. “Pressure Filters and the Surface Water Treatment Rule,” American Water Works Association Annual Conference, Anaheim, California, June 1995.

  11. “Planning for the Disruption of an Imported Water Supply”, California-Nevada Section, American Water Works Association, Palm Springs, California, October 1996.

  12. “Using Groundwater Recharge to Convert Surface Water from Agricultural to Municipal Use”, American Water Works Association, Seattle, Washington, August 1997.

  13. “City of Davis Water Meter Retrofit Program-Keys to Success”, Sacramento Area Water Works Association, 1997.

  14. “Water Savings due to Residential Water Meter Retrofit”, American Water Works Association Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, June 2000.

  15. “Meter Retrofit Yields Water Savings”, American Water Works Association Journal, pg. 36, March 2001.

  16. “Water Metering Efforts in the City of Davis”, Water Conservation News, California Department of Water Resources, pg. 7, April 2001.

  17. “Water Use Efficiency: The Costs and Water Savings Quantified”, American Water Works Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, June 17, 2002, and Sacramento Area Water Works Association, July 12, 2002.

  18. “Improving Water Supply Sustainability in Honduras”, Sacramento Area Water Works Association, Sept. 13, 2003.

  19. “When Wastewater Regulations Change Drinking Water Standards”, Sacramento Area Water Works Association, August 8, 2003.

  20. “Integrating Water Planning Efforts in Yolo County”, California-Nevada Section, American Water Works Association, Las Vegas, NV, April 2004.

  21. “Drought Planning for Sierra Nevada Water Agencies”, Nevada Water Resources Association, Reno, NV, Feb. 2, 2005.

  22. “Water Management: A Regional Surface Water Supply Project from Concept to Reality”, Texas Water, Fort Worth, TX, April 12, 2007.

  23. “Bringing a Regional Surface Water Supply Project from Concept to Reality”, American Water Works Association 2008 Sustainable Water Sources, Reno, NV, Feb. 12, 2008.

  24. “Planning a Long-Term Integrated Water Supply Strategy in Placer County, California”, American Water Works Association Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, June 10, 2008.

  25. “Winning Water Conservation and Drought Planning Proposals-How to be Successful with General Managers and Utility Boards”, WaterSmart Innovations Conference, Las Vegas, NV, October 10, 2008.

  26. “Responding to Climate Change: Successful Models”, Panelist, Water Policy 18 Conference, Pasadena, CA, November 7, 2008.

  27. “Urban Water Management Planning: Realities of Water Conservation”, Water Education Foundation Russian River Tour, Dinner Speaker, Santa Rosa, CA, October 2, 2008 and August 6, 2009.

  28. “Urban Water Management Plan Updates that Implement SB 7”, Panelist and Presenter, Association of California Water Agencies’ Spring Conference, Monterey, CA, May 11, 2010.

  29. “Planning Water System Replacements and Improvements to Enhance Water Sustainability”, California-Nevada Section, American Water Works Association, Sacramento, California, October 2010.

  30. “City of San Diego Water Purification Demonstration project and Urban Water Management Plan”, Water Reuse California Central Valley Sierra Foothills Meeting, Sacramento, California, September 2011.

  31. “American Water Works Association CA-NV Section 2014 Drought Workshops”, Instructor, West Sacramento and Rancho Cucamonga, California, May 2014.

  32. “Optimizing the Sizing of Conjunctive Use Water Supply Facilities", American Water Works Association Annual Conference, Anaheim, California, June 2015.

  33. “Monetizing Spare Water Treatment Capacity for Transfers: What it Takes to Get it Done”, American Water Works Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 2018.

  34. "Unused Treatment Capacity: Reaching a Decision on its Value”, Panelist and Presenter, Association of California Water Agencies’ Spring Conference, Monterey, CA, May 8, 2019.

  35. "Risk and Resilience Assessments: Lessons Learned", California-Nevada Section American Water Works Association Spring Conference, Anaheim, CA, April 2022.

Contact

I can be contacted via email at pselsky@gmail.com or through LinkedIn direct messaging.

Thank you

Thanks for visiting my web site.