California’s State Water Resources Control Board is preparing to select the next deputy director of its Division of Drinking Water. The choice deserves far more attention than a routine executive appointment. The person who replaces Darrin Polhemus, who is retiring at the end of August, will have a major role in deciding how California protects the drinking water systems that serve tens of millions of people. That includes deciding which risks deserve immediate attention, where regulatory resources should be focused, and how the state responds when public health goals run up against aging infrastructure, limited resources, and the cost of new requirements.
–Written by Roy L. Wolfe, former board chair of the Water Research Foundation and former executive at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.