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Harold Williams, a board member with the West Basin Municipal Water District (WBMWD) was seated on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) earlier this week. Williams, a civil engineer, replaces Donald Dear, who represented WBMWD on the MWD board since 2013.
Williams was elected to the WBMWD board in November 2014. He also currently serves on the board of directors of the National Water Research Institute and serves on the CalDesal Executive Committee. A long-time resident of Carson, Williams served on the Carson City Council from 2004 to 2009. During that time, he also served on the board of directors of the League of California Cities. He has previously served on various Carson city commissions and is a member of the Carson Lions Club.
Williams has worked as a civil engineer for more than 40 years. He was previously the director of public works and city engineer for the city of Gardena and held similar positions in Carson, Hermosa Beach, Lawndale and Lynwood. He has held leadership positions in the Southern California chapter of the American Public Works Association and other engineer groups. He is currently working as a consultant with cities and special districts to resolve their infrastructure challenges.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from California State University Los Angeles, Williams than completed a master’s degree in civil engineering from California State University Long Beach. He also served in the U.S. Army. He and his wife, Carolyn, have two children and three grandchildren.
Williams has now joined fellow WBMWD Board Member Gloria Gray on the MWD Board of Directors. Metropolitan is governed by a 38-member Board of Directors, representing each of the district’s 26-member agencies. Each member agency is represented by one or more directors based on the assessed property valuation of its jurisdiction. Williams will also serve on MWD’s Engineering and Operations Committee and the Organization, Personnel and Technology Committee.
