Debbie Franco

Water Solutions Network, Managing Director

Debbie Franco is the Managing Director of the Water Solutions Network. The Network provides an intensive cohort-based learning experience designed to expand and diversify the community of water leaders crossing boundaries, connecting resources, and choosing bold action while collaboratively working toward equitable and sustainable land and water stewardship.

Before joining the Water Solutions Network, Debbie spent 10 years in the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, ultimately serving as the Senior Advisor on Water and Rural Affairs. In that role, she was known for her commitment to collaboration across agencies, and between agencies and stakeholders. Debbie served on Governor Brown’s Drought Task Force as the Local Drought Liaison, focusing on local government and local agency assistance and household water supply shortages. She also served on the Forest Management Task Force that spanned the Brown and Newsom administrations, leading the Rural Economic Development Steering Committee/Wood Utilization Work Group. Debbie participated in and contributed to the development of California’s historic Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.