Speaker Bio

Mr. Kelly currently serves as a Director on the Board of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, being elected in June, 2011 and re-elected in 2015. During his tenure at the MRGCD he has worked towards bringing a better balance between the urban and rural interests, the agriculture community and environmental interests, and the Pueblo irrigator and the non-Indian irrigator.

Prior to retiring in 2010, Mr. Kelly was Executive Engineer for eleven years at the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority ( AMAFCA ). He managed all aspects of the local flood control district, and implemented a $12M/year capital program and $3.5M annual operating budget. Mr. Kelly is well known for incorporating aesthetics, multiple-use, GI/LID techniques and storm water quality features into the flood control projects he worked on.

Mr. Kelly is married to Susan Kelly, a respected water policy attorney and planner in Albuquerque. They have two children; Molly and Emma, both in graduate school and heading toward careers in the law and water science fields.