Articles

Keynote Speakers - September 2021

Keynote Speakers

Jenna Covington, P.E. - Executive Director - NTMWD

Cesar Baptista - Deputy Director - NTMWD

Topic: Bois D’Arc Lake and NTMWD Update

Jenna Covington serves as Executive Director and General Manager for the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD).  She oversees all aspects of the regional wholesale provider for water, wastewater and solid waste services for nearly two million in one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Wholesale services are provided for up to 80 communities across a 2,200 square miles in 10 North Texas counties with an annual budget of about $590 million.

• The NTMWD wholesale water services operate and maintain 18 major raw and treated water pump stations, 6 water treatment plants with a 876 million gallons per day (MGD) capacity and over 610 miles of water transmission pipelines to serve nearly two million people in a 2,200 square mile service area.
• The NTMWD wholesale wastewater services operate and maintain 13 wastewater treatment plants with a combined treatment capacity of 163 MGD and a complex conveyance system with over 226 miles of large diameter pipelines. Wholesale wastewater services are provided for 24 cities and 1.3 million people.
• NTMWD provides solid waste disposal services to five cities (Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Plano and Richardson) with a population of almost one million. NTMWD operates three transfer stations and the Regional Disposal Facility (landfill) located in Melissa, Texas. On average, around one million tons of solid waste are disposed of each year.

Jenna is a professional engineer and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Environmental Engineering from Texas Tech University.  Jenna serves on the Boards of the Texas Water Conservation Association and the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center.  She is a member of the Texas Water Development Board Region C Water Planning Group, the Texas Tech University Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering Academy, a recipient of the Water Environment Federation Arthur Sidney Bedell Award, the Water Environment Association of Texas Emerging Leader Award and is a Past President the Water Environmental Association of Texas.  Jenna is also a wife and mother to three.  Her husband, Paul, is a software developer.  Their three children are 14, 11, and 9 years old, attend school in Allen and are active in club soccer.

Cesar Baptista serves as the Deputy Director of Engineering and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD). He oversees all aspects of NTMWD planning, engineering and construction, including CIP projects, Real Estate Acquisition/Management, and Energy Management programs. NTMWD currently has nearly 60 major construction projects underway with budgets in excess of $2 billion including Bois d’Arc Lake and its associated components in Fannin County.

Cesar joined NTMWD in 2015 bringing with him decades of experience in the municipal water and wastewater industry. He has extensive experience in planning and delivery of large capital programs related to conveyance and treatment facilities. Cesar is a professional engineer (inactive status) and holds his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington.