About

My name is Bill Rice and I am a California Professional Geologist and Certified Hydrogeologist with experience in hydrogeology, environmental geology, and water resource management. I specialize in groundwater investigations, numerical modeling with MODFLOW, and building data systems like telemetry networks, ETL pipelines, and stakeholder-facing dashboards that help water districts and agencies make science-based decisions.

My work spans Groundwater Sustainability Plan development under SGMA, aquifer testing, geologic modeling, and emergency well mitigation programs for disadvantaged communities. I have supported counties with the planning and implementation of policies and procedures related to California’s emergency drought executive orders, including Executive Order N-7-22 and Executive Order N-3-23. I also architect and maintain the computing infrastructure that supports modeling teams and public data access.

I regularly present at the California Groundwater Resources Association Western Groundwater Congress on topics ranging from data-driven decision making under SGMA to semi-automated report generation support tools that shorten the life cycle between data collection and data presentation and interpretation.

During graduate school, I joined UCLA for an NSF-funded International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project in Rwanda, supporting local farming initiatives to better track and distribute water across large rice production cooperatives and hillside vegetable cooperatives.

I hold a Bachelor of Science in Earth Science from the Earth and Planetary Sciences department at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master of Science in Hydrology from the Hydrologic Sciences program at the University of California, Davis.

Connect with me on LinkedIn.

For more about SGMA

If you would like to know more about the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, visit the California Department of Water Resources SGMA Website.