The Bay Area’s largest public water utility board is experiencing a “silver tsunami” as a majority of its most experienced directors retire this year.
Four of the seven members of the board at the East Bay Municipal Utility District, known as EBMUD, already have or will retire by the end of the year. Each has served since at least 2001, taking with them decades of experience preparing for drought, managing rate increases and positioning the utility for climate change.
“I’ll go from being the most junior member of the board two years ago to being the most senior member of the board,” said EBMUD Director Marguerite Young, who was elected in 2014 and is one of the three remaining board members.
As the second largest water retailer in California, EBMUD services 1.4 million residents across Alameda and Contra Costa counties, managing water reserves, rate increases and drought-contingency plans.
But like many private companies and public agencies, its most senior leaders are stepping down for a new generation in a trend that many are calling the “silver tsunami,” according to Erik Christian Porse, director of the California Institute for Water Resources.
“A lot of the senior leadership in the water sector, they’ve been in place for some time. And you do see a generational gap as those folks retire and those who take on new duties,” Porse said.
The board’s first major retirement came in April, when John Coleman retired after more than 30 years on the EBMUD board.
“This is a bittersweet moment. Since my days as an Eagle Scout, I’ve dedicated myself to serving my community,” Coleman said at the time. “As I look back at my 33-year career at EBMUD, I’m enormously proud of what we have accomplished together, shaping vital water policy and forging increased collaboration among water agencies in this great state.”
Three other board members have announced their intent to retire after the 2024 election, including Lesa McIntosh, first elected in 1999 to represent parts of Contra Costa County; Doug Linney, who has represented San Leandro and West Oakland since 2001; and William “Bill” Patterson, who joined the board in 1997 to represent East Oakland.
The board unanimously appointed Luz Gómez to replace Coleman. Gómez is running unopposed in a district covering Walnut Creek, Danville and Lafayette. The rest of the outgoing board members, however, will have to wait for the results of the 2024 election to see who replaces them.
EBMUD’s outgoing leaders guided the district through droughts that required residents to reduce water consumption by 10% in 2022. The future board likely will face similar challenges dealing with drought, water resource management and balancing the organization’s budget. That is not to say they will come to the board unprepared, Young said.
“We have long working strategic plans. The departing directors had a role in developing those plans, so in that way, their institutional knowledge lives on and will continue to do so in the future,” Young said.
Future board members will also rely on forecasts made for the upcoming La Niña season, characterized by typically lower levels of precipitation, in addition to strategic plans for managing water resources and capital improvement projects for aging infrastructure.
Porse offered support for the new ideas and perspectives that arrive when organizations face turnovers, including the “opportunity to evolve, to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”
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Young is optimistic about what the new members will bring to the board. She pointed to the work of April Chan, who represents portions of San Lorenzo, San Leandro and Hayward. Two years ago, EBMUD had plans to obtain a quarry in her ward for depositing trench soils, but Chan insisted that community members share their concerns with the board about the impact of the plan on their community, Young said. The board was forced to take a “deeper look” at alternatives and eventually landed on depositing the soils with the Montezuma Wetlands restoration project, which will address sea level rise in the Bay Area.
The relatively newer additions of Young and Chan have come during a period where East Bay MUD has taken a more proactive approach regarding climate change, water conservation, replacing aging infrastructure and addressing water affordability for the East Bay’s most vulnerable populations.
“I hope that our incoming directors also have things that further our organization’s mission,” Young said.
Armed with the strategic plans of its current board, the expertise of East Bay MUD’s staff and the insight of new incoming members, Young is encouraged by what is to come from the water district.
“We have a great pool of candidates running for those seats, a very capable management team and incumbent directors who have a real interest in seeing our new colleagues come into the work well-prepared,” Young said. “There will be bumps in the road, but I’m excited about it.”
