Conference Co-Chairs Sara Agahi Sara joined the County of San Diego’s Department of Public Works in 2006 and has been managing the Flood Control District since 2014. In addition to her floodplain management role, Sara actively participated on County response and recovery teams for the 2014 swarm of wildfires, the 2017 Lilac Fire, and the 2018 West Fire. In 2017, Sara also participated on the multi-disciplinary County team that responded to the Hepatitis A Outbreak. Sara previously served for 6 years on FMA’s Board of Directors and on the Governor’s Alluvial Fan Task Force (AFTF). Sara received her BS and MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois, ChampaignUrbana. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of Illinois and California, a Certified Floodplain Manager, and has over 20 years of public and private sector experience.
Eric Simmons Eric Simmons is with the Mitigation Division of FEMA Region IX in Oakland, CA. His work focuses on the reduction of flood losses to people and the environment due to unwise floodplain development. Flood hazard mapping and other risk analysis work is the primary method of accomplishing this goal. His responsibilities include leading flood map projects and program management for mitigation activities in California, Nevada and the Pacific involving digital map production, needs assessment for new hazard analyses, risk communication, and training on a variety of floodplain management topics. Since joining FEMA in 2005, Eric has also supported disaster recovery operations including the Katrina, Sandy and wildfire disasters. His professional experience also includes water resources engineering, project management and environmental compliance. He graduated with a bachelor and master’s in civil engineering.
Vic Nguyen Vic is the Chief of the Southern Region Office for the California Department of Water Resources and is the liaison with federal, state, and local agencies in Southern California. The Office supports many Department programs throughout the southern region, which covers about 65,000 square miles (40% of the state’s area) and has 23 million people (58% of the state’s population). The programs and services supported by the office include Integrated Regional Water Management grants, Salton Sea restoration, groundwater management, floodplain management, water quality and quantity, environmental compliance, geologic and hydrogeologic investigations, land and water use surveys, climate change, emergency response, and watermaster services. Prior to DWR, Vic was the Principal Engineer for the Colorado River Board of California where he worked on various technical programs within the Colorado River Basin. Vic had also help developed the California Drought Contingency Plan while working at DWR earlier before his return as Chief of the Southern Region Office. Vic is a registered civil engineer with Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Civil Engineering and is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley.
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