Water agency names interim chief

[caption id="attachment_18069" align="alignright" width="154" caption="Grant Davis"][/caption]

SANTA ROSA -- The Sonoma County Water Agency board of directors today announced that it will appoint Assistant General Manager Grant Davis as the agency’s interim general manger beginning Feb. 23.

Mr. Davis is currently the assistant general manager. The appointment is for one year.

“In his current capacity, Grant has provided strong leadership on a wide variety of projects,” said Valerie Brown, Chair of the Sonoma County Water Agency board of directors.  “He has demonstrated the ability to manage during this period of transition.  He has successfully negotiated Water Agency budgets and developed important new revenue sources for the agency.”

The agency started looking for a new general manager late last year to replace the General Manager and Chief Engineer Randy Poole when he retires Feb. 22.

“This is truly a unique opportunity.  I am humbled by the confidence the board of directors has entrusted in me to continue building upon the pioneering work of the agency,” said Mr. Davis.  “I have some awfully big shoes to fill by my predecessor, Randy Poole.  I will work hard to earn the trust and confidence of our board, community and staff and look forward to helping chart a new, more reliable and sustainable future for the agency and the resources we all depend upon.”

As assistant general manager, Mr. Davis was responsible for management activities related to the water delivery, wastewater management, flood protection, fisheries management and environmental sustainability.

Prior to joining the agency, Mr. Davis was executive director of The Bay Institute, a science-based nonprofit, dedicated to protecting the San Francisco Bay-Delta Watershed and improving water management in California.  He also worked for Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey from 1993-1997. Davis covered energy and water-related legislation.

Mr. Davis is on the University of California President’s Advisory Commission for the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He was a member of the Governor of California’s Water Plan Advisory Commission, chair of the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture and vice chair of the Bay Area Water Forum. He received his BA in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.

As interim general manager, Davis will lead the agency’s 183 employees and manage its services related to water supply, flood protection, sanitation services, fisheries and sustainability initiatives.  He will report directly to the agency’s five-member board of directors, which also serves as the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.  The position of general manager/chief engineer was split into two separate management positions after a reorganization of the agency later last year.

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