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Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California seated three new directors earlier this week representing the cities of Fullerton and Santa Ana, and the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA). MWD 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.
The city of Fullerton is now represented by Adán Ortega, who owns a Fullerton-based public affairs firm. Ortega replaces former Director Peter Beard, who served for almost the past five years. In addition to his own firm, Ortega has worked in government relations for 30 years. He previously served as Secretary of State Bill Jones’ chief deputy, and as assistant general manager of both West Basin and Central Basin municipal water districts. In 2013, he was appointed by former Gov. Jerry Brown to the California Water Commission, and by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, where he chaired its water committee from 2005 to 2012.
Additionally, Ortega has helped lead efforts to bring technical assistance to small community water systems in disadvantaged communities around California. He served as Metropolitan’s vice president of external affairs from 1999 to 2005. Ortega has earned bachelor’s degrees in English and history from Whittier College.
Solorio understands first-hand the value of water in California’s agricultural industry; the son of migrant farm workers, Solorio worked in the fields alongside his parents as a teenager. He subsequently earned his bachelor’s degree from University of California, Irvine and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University.
Solorio served on the Santa Ana City Council from 2000 to 2006, and was re-elected to that governing body in 2016. In the intervening years he served in the state Assembly from 2006 to 2012, representing the 69th District, which includes the city of Santa Ana and parts of Anaheim and Garden Grove.
Solorio has served on the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, Orange County Water District Board, and on water committees in the State Assembly. He is currently employed as a government affairs officer for the Moulton Niguel Water District.
Representing the city of Fontana and portions of Rialto and Bloomington, Hall is vice president of the IEUA Board of Directors, which she joined in 2013. Hall serves as the IEUA’s representative to the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and to the Chino Basin Desalter Authority, which manages the Chino Basin’s groundwater resources. Additionally, Hall has served on the California Association of Sanitation Board of Directors since February 2017.
Hall holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Phoenix and a master’s degree in business from National University in San Diego. She has served as a member of the Fontana Planning Commission’s and as the commission’s secretary and as chairwoman for the Fontana Parks and Recreation Commission.
Committee assignments for the three new MWD board members include the following:
- Ortega: Conservation and Local Resources, Engineering and Operations, and Organization, Personnel and Technology committees
- Solorio: Organization, Personnel and Technology Committee
- Hall: Conservation and Local Resources, Legal and Claims, and Organization, Personnel and Technology committees
