Maddaus Water Management

1976-1995

William Maddaus develops expertise in water conservation and a client network through project work, AWWA Committee participation, preparing Handbooks for AWWA on the topic (shown left), and awards like the 1990 Camel Award. He works for three consulting companies: Engineering Science (now Parsons), Brown and Caldwell (BC), and Montgomery Watson Harza (MWH).

1995

After the Water Resource Department in the Walnut Creek Office of MWH is closed, William Maddaus and wife Linda set up a sole proprietorship called “Maddaus Water Management” (MWM). MWH contracts with MWM to complete projects in Bangkok, Thailand and Houston, Texas. First new client is City of Sacramento.

1996

William Maddaus starts commercial water audits, first for the U.S. Navy at Norfolk Naval Base, followed by Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He then wins a job to do audits in Tacoma, Washington and begins doing audits country wide.

1997

William Maddaus and Russell Beatty of MWH develop first version of DSS Model (Water Conservation Planning Tool) and apply it to five cities in the State of Queensland, Australia.

1999

William Maddaus applies U.S. version of DSS Model to help prepare a water conservation plan for the Town of Cary, North Carolina.

2000

Lisa Maddaus works part time at MWM to help complete Water Efficiency Plan for Stanford University, MWM’s longest continuous client (15 years and counting).

2001

MWM selected to develop Water Conservation Plans for 17 counties in the Metro North Georgia (Atlanta) Water Planning Area. First large-scale regional use of DSS Model.

2002

Lisa Maddaus and William Maddaus collaborate to prepare Guide to Preparing Urban Water-Use Efficiency Plans for the United Nations (UN) in Bangkok, Thailand, published in 2003. Lisa Maddaus and William Maddaus teach a cost-benefit workshop for the UN in Bangkok, Thailand and Shanghai, China using software from the Planning Guide.

2003

MWM selected to develop water demand projections and water conservation evaluations for 33 water agencies that purchase water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the largest application of the DSS Model. Work is updated in 2009 and 2013 by MWM for Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA).

2003

Michelle Maddaus joins William Maddaus to help on SFPUC project, having just received her MBA from UC Davis. She decides to stay on and apply her engineering/project management skills to improve water efficiency in the U.S.

2006

Lisa Maddaus and William Maddaus collaborate to prepare Water Conservation Programs – A Planning Manual, M52, American Water Works Association (AWWA). A best seller that becomes the industry standard for water conservation planning.

2008

William Maddaus participates in California Urban Water Conservation Council (CUWCC) activities since its founding in 1990 and is awarded Michael Moynahan Excellence Award.

2010

Chris Matyas, a software engineer and Michelle Maddaus’s husband, joins MWM to become the lead modeler and participate in water audits. His civil engineering background helps him understand the water business and the real need for the custom software he develops.

2010

William Maddaus works with Deborah Green to revise Water Conservation for Small and Medium Sized Utilities, published by AWWA as a handbook in 2010, an update of a handbook written by William Maddaus for the Pacific Northwest section of AWWA in 1985.

2011

Lisa Maddaus rejoins MWM full-time from Brown and Caldwell, partnering with Michelle Maddaus to manage projects. She brings experience in drought management, water loss and water policy to the team.

2011

William Maddaus wins Water Star Award, given by the Alliance of Water Efficiency at the Water Smart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas.

2012

Chris develops commercial water audit software for a tablet computer to enable audits of large building complexes. It is beta tested on a water audit of the University of California, San Francisco medical school campus.

2012

Michelle Maddaus and others continue to publish a large number of articles and professional papers, workshops and presentations. Michelle Maddaus wins Oasis Award from AWWA for starting the Climate Change Committee, which grew rapidly to include national and international members under her leadership.

2013

After hundreds of applications, Chris rewrites DSS Model to be more user friendly and offer additional capability. It is beta tested on the City of Santa Cruz project to verify accuracy.

2013

Lisa Maddaus, Michelle Maddaus and William Maddaus collaborate on Preparing Urban Water Efficiency Plans – A Best Practice Guide for the International Water Association in London. The book is unveiled at a conference in Paris, France with signing the next year at WSI Las Vegas.

2014

Tess Kretschmann joins us as an engineer and becomes the principal DSS Modeler. Tess is trained in water auditing.

2015

MWM celebrates 20 years of serving clients and making a difference in water in the world, having completed over 300 projects, presented approximately 100 professional papers, and published four books. William Maddaus is recently acknowledged by peers as the founder of the water conservation movement in the U. S., having helped many people get their start in the field, including Mary Ann Dickinson (CEO of the Alliance for Water Efficiency).