Dan Buhman
Title: General Manager
Contact: (817) 335-2491; dan.buhman@trwd.com
NWSA Involvement: Immediate Past President
Bio:
Dan Buhman is an award-winning leader with 20+ years in the water industry in Texas and nationwide. He is an executive leader, serving as General Manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD).
Dan oversees the District’s 400+ employees, $190M+ annual budget, and nearly $500M capital program.
He works with the 5-member elected Board of Directors, stakeholders and customers to implement the District’s vision. He works closely with non-profits like Streams & Valleys, Trinity Collaborative, and as a member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Fort Worth Rotary and graduate of Leadership Fort Worth. Under his leadership, TRWD has begun an Aquifer Storage and Recovery project, is developing one of the largest constructed wetlands in the nation to reuse water, negotiated permanent rights to Lake Benbrook water, and added $1B+ in infrastructure with unanimous customer and Board support.
Dan is active in many state and national associations. He is President of the National Water Supply Alliance, Policy Committee Chair and Executive Board Member at the Texas Water Conservation Association, Board member on the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies, and active in National Waterways Conference. He is also on the Board of the Texas Water Development Board’s Region C Water Planning Group and on the Board of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. He was given the President’s Award for developing Texas Water Conservation Association’s first strategic plan to set the organization’s future trajectory.
After graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in Civil Engineering and then Colorado State University with an M.S. specializing in river systems, he launched an almost 15-year consulting career that began in Denver designing whitewater boating features and stabilizing rivers. But his consulting career mostly occurred in Texas, helping water suppliers plan for the future and implement some of the largest infrastructure projects in the nation. In 2008 he opened his own successful independent consulting firm, offering leadership to agencies setting their future water strategy. His entrepreneurial skills led to $20M+ in generated business.
Dan is a sought-after public speaker and has addressed dozens of civic organizations, chambers of commerce, industry associations, and conferences.
His most important role in life, and his top priorities, are his wife Tiffany and three great children.
Organizational
Overview:
Organization Type: Water Control and Improvement District
Water Supply: TRWD owns 4 major reservoirs and manages water supply operations in 3 reservoirs. Total permitted water supply is approximately 800,000 acre-feet/year.
Population Served: Over 2.2 million people with a service area population expected to double in the next 50 years.
Water Users: TRWD is a wholesale provider of raw water to over 70 communities. Its four primary customers are the City of Fort Worth, the City of Arlington, Trinity River Authority, and City of Mansfield.
Total Storage Volume: Over 2 million acre-feet.
Key Issues/Challenges: Growth: TRWD needs additional reservoirs, reallocations of flood storage to water supply, and certainty in our existing USACE reservoir contract.