About Maurice Hall

Maurice Hall

Senior Advisor, Climate Resilient Water Systems

Contact

Remote Office

Work

Areas of expertise:

Water management, water policy, groundwater governance, hydrogeology, water resources engineering, aquatic ecosystems, sustainable agriculture, irrigated agriculture, water quality, natural infrastructure, civil engineering

A national and global voice for sustainable water management, Maurice Hall draws on more than 30 years of experience to advance strategies and solutions to adapt to water scarcity, particularly in agricultural regions around the world.

As senior advisor for Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Resilient Water Systems Program, Maurice provides strategic and technical guidance on EDF’s efforts to build resilient water systems that meet the needs of people, agriculture and ecosystems in a changing climate. While leading the Climate Resilient Water Systems Program at EDF, Maurice was instrumental in co-founding OpenET — a satellite-based evapotranspiration data platform developed with NASA, the Desert Research Institute, Google Earth Engine and others that fills a critical information gap in water management. He served as interim executive director of the OpenET organization and board treasurer and continues to serve as a founding board member.

Background

A leading expert in groundwater management, Maurice played a pivotal role in shaping California’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Working closely with lawmakers, the governor’s office and water agency leaders, Maurice helped design key aspects of the legislation and built broad support across diverse interest groups. He championed critical provisions, including protections for surface water depletion, and remains a sought-after speaker and advisor on SGMA’s implementation.

As a water resources engineering and hydrology consultant, Maurice held technical and leadership roles in numerous water resources analyses and design projects across the western United States. This includes his roles in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Owens Lake Dust Mitigation Program, in which he oversaw the design and operations startup of an innovative 2,400-acre “managed vegetation” irrigation system that balanced hydrologic and ecological needs while controlling dust emissions from the Owens Lake playa.

Before joining EDF, Maurice held leadership roles with The Nature Conservancy and the Water Funder Initiative, where he helped craft a national blueprint for water philanthropy. 

Maurice has testified before the U.S. Senate and multiple state legislatures on drought resilience and groundwater policy. He has spoken at global forums, including the 2022 UN Water Conference; the N7 Agriculture, Water & Food Security Conference in Abu Dhabi; and the Third China (Qinghai) International Expo. 

Maurice was selected as a 2019 David Keith Todd Distinguished Lecturer by the Groundwater Resources Association of California and co-delivered the 2018 Anne J. Schneider Memorial Lecture on SGMA’s integration of surface and groundwater. 

A former geology faculty member at Radford University, Maurice has taught courses in watershed management, groundwater modeling and aqueous geochemistry. He has also served on the boards of the Water Education Foundation and Northern California’s Shasta Land Trust.

Maurice holds a Ph.D. in earth resources from Colorado State University and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is a registered professional civil engineer in California.

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