Stratecon Inc. is a strategic planning and economics consulting firm specializing in water. We provide advisory services in the acquisition of water rights throughout the western United States and in the sale and leasing of water rights and water supplies to public and private sector water users, as well as provide proprietary research services, and expert testimony. Stratecon brings together the disciplines of economics, finance, natural resource management and policy to develop innovative solutions to commercial and public water policy issues.
Stratecon also produces publications that complement its consulting work and offer our expertise to a wider audience. Learn more
Our Team
Rodney T. Smith, President
Rod is involved as an advisor in the acquisition of water rights throughout the western United States and in the sale and leasing of water rights and water supplies to public and private sector water users. He has consulted extensively for public and private sector clients, including high net worth investors, on business and public policy issues concerning water resources. Rod has served as a consultant to a major new water transfer study by the Western Governors’ Association and the Western States Water Council. He frequently shares his insight on the Hydrowonk Blog.
He was also manager of a water rights fund in 2005 for DB Zwirn, lead a water rights and infrastructure project for investors through Southwest Texas Water Resources, L.P. and currently serves as President of Baja Norte Water Resources LLC and an affiliated Mexican entity involving the marketing of desalinated Mexican seawater in the United States.
Rod received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Mike Smith, Chairman of the Board
Mike Smith is an experienced investor and operator with more than a decade of work across private equity, venture capital, and early-stage company building. He has led investments in software, consumer / retail, and business services, and held executive and advisory roles at high-growth startups in the food, beverage, and specialty retail sectors. He also co-founded a consumer packaged goods brand.
Mike is currently a Principal at Delta Emerald Ventures, a stage-agnostic growth equity firm focused on highly regulated industries and backed by a large New York-based single family office. He leads the firm’s investment strategy across sourcing, diligence, and portfolio management.
Prior to Delta Emerald, Mike was a Principal at SevenVentures, the venture arm of a global media company partially owned by General Atlantic, where he led growth investments from Series B through pre-IPO in e-commerce, marketplaces, and digital media.
He began his career at Goldman Sachs and Soros Fund Management, and holds a B.A. in Global Business and International Relations from the University of Southern California.
Marta L. Casper, Director of Research and Policy Analysis
Marta provides research support for all aspects of Stratecon’s services. Marta also oversaw the selection, research and development of content for the Journal of Water, and she occasionally writes for the Hydrowonk Blog.
Marta joined the firm in 2000 as a researcher for Water Strategist, which was published through 2010, initially focusing on providing water market information for the “Transactions Update,” and to accomplish that work, she maintained a network of both public and private sector water professionals. Before joining Stratecon, Marta worked as an adjunct instructor of Political Science at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California and Citrus College in Glendora, California and provided tutoring services in research methodology to graduate students in the Public Administration and Organizational Management programs at the University of La Verne.
Marta received a Master’s degree in Politics and Policy from the Claremont Graduate University and completed additional graduate coursework in research methodology. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of La Verne and has an Associate of Science in Natural Sciences from Riverside Community College.