Galbreath honored for 15 years of leadership, service to Metro Nashville
The environmental leader’s stewardship contributes to Nashville becoming a greener and more resilient city.
Keely Hagan | 615-966-6491 |
Associate Professor of Sustainability Dodd Galbreath was recognized by the Metro Nashville Council on Jan. 23 for his 15-year impact on the city’s growth and environmental challenges through his service on the Stormwater Management Commission.
As he concluded his 15-year tenure on the commission, the council honored his critical role in shaping regulation, leading public awareness and impacting development in the city. Council members Burkley Allen, Antoinette Lee, Jeff Preptit, and Erin Evans presented a resolution that was formally entered into the record. Among various commendations, the resolution stated that “The enduring impact of his contributions is poised to significantly shape the community's environmental resilience.”
Initially appointed by Mayor Karl Dean in January 2009, Galbreath was appointed four times and served under six mayors. He was elected vice chair in 2017 and voted chair in 2019. Other public services to Metro Nashville included five sustainability study committees and two conservation committees, the first originating with Mayor Bill Purcell.
“The 2010 flood changed everything,” Galbreath says. “It forced awareness for new action on floodplain and stream bank oversight to protect people from floodable homes.”
Galbreath commends Mayor Dean and succeeding mayors for having made sustainable water management a priority. He says that the actions initiated by Dean and later prompted by the flood, such as implementing flood absorbing solutions like pervious paving and green roofs and purchasing frequently flooded homes, are examples of good stewardship that mimic God’s original designs.
Significant milestones of his tenure include collaboration with Mayor Meghan Barry to televise the commission’s regulatory hearings, resulting in increased public awareness and regulatory clarity that reduced floodplain and resource alteration requests by half, and a critical decision to deny development of a frequently flooded area of the Cumberland River that led to a new legal precedent.
Galbreath says that if approved, the development would have put first responders at risk, increased flooding of neighbors, increasingly reduced water quality for wildlife and impacted the cost of our drinking water.
“For years, our commission’s decisions relied on untested and as a result, vague legal principles,” he says. With this foundational decision, Galbreath says, “the state court of appeals affirmed the legality of our member’s statements, the type of evidence we used, and most importantly, clarified future legal definitions to better guide investor expectations.”
Other initiatives led by Galbreath include the reframing and professionalization of the Metro Stormwater Committee, which was successfully passed last year. He and commission technical secretary Logan Bowman spearheaded efforts that added a forester/landscape architect, an environmental attorney, and a permanent realtor seat to the commission. Galbreath noted, “The number one reason that Davidson County enjoys such a high quality and lower cost water resources, is because of the legal and scientific skill of metro legal and water service staff.”
Galbreath, who is also director of Lipscomb University’s Institute for Sustainable Practice graduate program, used metro’s real-life cases and interactions with applicants in his classroom to provide in-depth, applicable instruction. Ten of his former students are now employed in water protection roles across various sectors.
He also shares with students his personal commitment to first, “leave things better than we find them,” echoing the example of his childhood hero Abraham Lincoln, and second, to “look to God’s design of creation to better manage our planet.”
Galbreath currently serves as the chair of the Tennessee Board of Water Quality, Oil, and Gas. He was appointed to the board by Gov. Bill Lee to represent environmental interests. His service with two prior governors from 1993 until 2002, led to the passage of six state laws addressing surface and groundwater use, the designation of a state scenic river and the restoration of natural rivers and wetlands.
Galbreath’s career of over 40 years in sustainability and conservation has earned him two statewide leadership awards, and in 2020, he received the prestigious Robert Sparks Walker Lifetime Achievement Award from the governor and commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
“I owe my time and ability to serve to the support of my wife Susan, our children Ailey, Braden, daughter-in-law Brynn, and my supervisor, Dean Steve Joiner. They make it all possible,” said Galbreath.