Starting in the 1990s and continuing into the 2000s, local governments, businesses, and other organizations learned about stormwater quality management - designing, funding, implementing, and evaluating their stormwater quality programs along the way. And the "Task Force" meetings on the second Friday of a month were the place to be for stormwater professionals in California. During those years, the Task Force evolved into a more formal organization with an Executive Committee and standing subcommittees. And it worked hard to increase the network of professionals it created and to receive and make more information available to more people, more easily. The location of the general meetings was switched from Sacramento to rotating between northern and southern California, and their frequency was reduced first to every other month and then to once a quarter so subcommittees and ad hoc work groups could spend more time on the details of managing stormwater quality. That evolution resulted in the Task Force becoming a formal non-profit in September 2002, the election of a Board of Directors, the collection of membership dues, the selection of an Executive Director, and a new name - California Stormwater Quality Association.

As a voluntary association of many various organizations and individuals, CASQA has never been a "place" in the traditional sense of the word. Like most associations and other similar organizations, CASQA has always been a "virtual" place, even before the connotation of that word took on a new meaning in the mid-90s. Although some things have not changed in 15 years, others have. CASQA is still the place to be for stormwater professionals in California. But the meaning of "place" has changed considerably as the result of technological advances.

During the organization's 20-year evolution, the technology for communicating about the developing field of stormwater quality management changed significantly. In the early 90s, we communicated by phone, mail, face-to-face meetings, and faxes. By the late 90s, phone calls, mail, and face-to-face meetings were on the decline, faxes were rare, and e-mails were rapidly taking their place. These days, like many organizations CASQA finds itself communicating primarily by e-mail, voicemail, and conference calls.

And the website, which was a novelty and a bit of a luxury in the mid-to-late 90s, is now indispensable - especially to a large and dispersed organization like CASQA. As a result, we are dedicated to making this website as useful as it can be - and you can help. Please take a look around the website. If you have any suggestions for making the site more useful to you, please send them to us at: info@casqa.org. We will really appreciate it.

Again, thanks for visiting and using the CASQA website!

Geoff Brosseau, Executive Director