New Metropolitan Water District Chair Up for Drought, Supply Challenges

City of Pasadena’s Metropolitan Water District (MWD) Representative Cynthia J. Kurtz has announced that a new board chairman was named for the MWD of Southern California.

Randy A. Record, the representative of Eastern Municipal Water District, was unanimously elected as the chair during a board meeting on May 13, Kurtz  said.

Record will fulfill the remaining term of the late John V. Foley, who passed away in March, and will begin a two-year term as chairman in January.

The fifth-generation San Jacinto Valley native is set to lead the district as it deals with water supply challenges in the third year of a statewide drought that has led to an historic low five percent allocation of State Water Project supplies from Northern California. The agency’s other source—the Colorado River—is also recovering from 14 years of drought.

“I met with Mr. Record and talked to him several times by phone during the month preceding the election,” Kurtz said in a memorandum. ” He has been very engaged in water activities through MWD and as chair of the California Water Agencies. I am confident that he will be a good leader for MWD during these critical water times.”

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is the primary water importer and wholesaler for nearly 19 million people in six counties, including Los Angeles.

The Pasadena representative said three members of the board had indicated their interest in the position: Record, David De Jesus from Three Valleys Water District, and Robert Wunderlich from Beverly Hills.

During the meeting De Jesus made the motion for Record to be the chair. It was seconded by Wunderlich, Kurtz said.

Meanwhile, Kurtz also announced that the comment period for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan environmental impact report and statement was extended to late July. The Bay Delta plan will be reviewed in more details in June.

The State Department of Water Resources, tasked to build and operate the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, proposed having an “Implementation Office” that would oversee the ongoing operations and a “Design and Construction Office” which would have a limited scope of responsibilities for the 10-year tunnel construction.