Senior Water Resource Planner
If TMWA needs an example of the skill and talent that is prevalent in all of its employees, it needs to look no further than Shawn Stoddard to find one.
Originally from the Bay Area, Stoddard finished high school in Eureka while working on a farm. He moved to Reno in 1985 to attend the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Prior to joining the water division of Sierra Pacific in July of 2000, he worked as an instructor in the university's College of Agriculture.
Stoddard married his college sweetheart. They lived across the dorms from one another.
"At first we couldn't stand each other," said Stoddard with a smile.
Since graduating from UNR in 1989 with an undergraduate degree in applied economics, Stoddard, a senior water resource planner for TMWA, has been keeping busy. He immediately went on to get his masters in agricultural economics and is now working on a PhD in hydrology.
Stoddard recently did a study in collaboration with the Resource Economics Department at UNR on the water price responsiveness of commercial customers. He studied TMWA commercial water customers and how a rate increase would affect their water use. The study found that commercial water users are generally insensitive to a price change. They simply pass additional fees or cost on to their customers in the form of higher product prices.
When it comes to promoting water conservation, the study forecasts that doubling water rates would only yield a less-than-one percent decrease in water use. However, through education and awareness of our water system and why it is important to conserve, other TMWA studies have found that TMWA can see a decrease of 10 to 18 percent in water use. The lesson: TMWA customers respond to conservation messages when they understand why TMWA is asking them to use water wisely.
When Stoddard isn't working, he is definitely not sleeping.
"I really just don't sleep a lot," said Stoddard. "The kids go to bed and I begin studying."
