FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2021
Contact:
Caty Wagner, Sierra Club California, 203-988-3584
Charming Evelyn, Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, 213-385-0903
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Hires Adel Hagekhalil as New General Manager
LOS ANGELES– The Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) voted today to formally hire Adel Hagekhalil as its next general manager. His tenure will begin July 6, 2021.
The vote came after nearly two hours of public comment, during which 64 members of the public - residents and representatives of labor, environmental justice, and conservation groups - called into the meeting in support of Mr. Hagekhalil. No members of the public called in to oppose his hiring.
Several callers noted the delegation from Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC)’s attempts to derail Mr. Hagekhalil, as detailed in the LA Times, the OC Register, and the Daily News. The behind-the-scenes struggle over the agency’s leadership comes as severe drought wreaks havoc on Southern California’s water systems, deepening divisions over the path forward for MWD, which is tasked with supplying water to millions of Californians.
Mr. Hagekhalil, a civil engineer, has over 30 years of public service in water and infrastructure management. He was an executive with Los Angeles’ sanitation department and is known as a proponent of recycling sewage water and capturing stormwater. He had worked with President Obama on water security and for UNESCO. He was most recently the General Manager and Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Bureau for Street Services.
Caty Wagner, Southern California Water Organizer for Sierra Club CA said:
“It was a long road to get here - over a year of this hiring process and months of organizing - but we are extremely pleased with the decision to hire an outside candidate. I want to thank the board members that voted for Mr. Hagekhalil. And I know his hiring would not have been possible without the work of Sierra Club volunteers and the environmental community to call for the agency to start prioritizing water sustainability and environmental justice. We look forward to working with Mr. Hagekhalil.”
Charming Evelyn, Chair of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Water Committee said:
"We are pleased that the Board members made this decision. This is a new Chapter for MWD and its employees. Hopefully, Adel will continue to welcome us all to the table including our Tribal Nations. They have been left out of the water conversation for far too long."
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory arm of Sierra Club’s 13 local chapters in California, representing nearly half a million members and supporters.