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November 7, 2019

Lori Schectel
Chair
Bay Area Clean Water Agencies

Dear Ms. Schectel:

As a big picture thinker who understands the details of California’s water sector, I
am the ideal candidate to be the next Executive Director of the Bay Area Clean Water
Agencies (BACWA). With broad and substantive leadership experience in regulatory
policy, ratemaking, advocacy, and strategic partnerships, I have the skills, creativity, and
tenacity necessary to effectively lead BACWA through the many challenges and
opportunities in a dynamic regional, state, and federal policy and regulatory landscape.

My leadership skills are reflected in the significant list of enacted legislation and
policies I have developed over 13 years working for the California Public Utilities
Commission (Commission or CPUC) and the State Water Resources Control Board (Water
Board). Under my direction, the state met ambitious emergency water conservation goals,
formulated climate resilience goals for the water sector, advanced water-energy nexus
goals, mandated first-in-the-nation standards for reducing leaks in water distribution
systems, and is currently completing a statewide low-income water rate assistance plan.
Last year I wrote legislation (SB 998) that made California the first state to offer all
residents due process protections and alternate payment options to reduce hundreds of
thousands of residential water shutoffs. This year I worked on legislation (SB 200) to
provide safe and affordable drinking water to over 1 million Californians. My
understanding of both regulatory agencies and the Legislature, including relationships with
Legislators, Commissioners, State and Regional Board Members, and their staff would be
a tremendous asset to BACWA.

My accomplishments at the Water Board include a significant focus on wastewater
management and resilience. I led the development of the Water Board’s climate change
policy, which directs staff to use both regulatory and financial assistance tools to increase
onsite energy production, advance recycled water, and build resilience to sea level rise and
other climate change impacts. In addition, I secured funding from the US Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA) in 2016 conduct a statewide assessment of how to deploy new
and existing digester capacity to process organic waste diverted from landfills, thereby
reducing methane emissions. The final report is almost complete and will likely influence
decisions on how to allocate greenhouse gas reduction and other funding sources.
Furthermore, I am leading the Water Board effort to assess climate preparedness across the
wastewater sector. Through this effort I have engaged with CASA and BACWA members
on how to design questions that will provide the most relevant data to inform future permit
conditions and funding programs. As BACWA’s Executive Director, I would work with the
regulatory agencies towards a unified vision for climate resilience.

My communication skills would also be an asset for BACWA. Over the past several
years, my work with the media and my speaking engagements have created and maintained
critical public and legislative support for major water policy initiatives, including