Within the three years that Adel Hagekhalil has led California’s largest city water provider, the overall supervisor has sought to give attention to adaptation to local weather change — partly by lowering reliance on water provides from distant sources and investing in native water provides.
His efforts to assist shift priorities on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which has historically centered largely on delivering imported water to the area, have received reward amongst environmental advocates who hope to scale back dependence on provides from the Colorado River and Northern California.
Nevertheless, now that Hagekhalil is below investigation for harassment allegations and has been positioned on go away by the MWD board, a few of his supporters say they’re involved that his sidelining may intrude with the insurance policies he has helped advance.
“I might hope this doesn’t imply that we undo the progress that’s been made since Adel got here in,” stated Conner Everts, govt director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance, who has supported Hagekhalil’s insurance policies.
The accusations towards Hagekhalil surfaced Thursday whereas he was touring in Singapore for a water convention.
Chief Monetary Officer Katano Kasaine made the allegations in a confidential letter to the board, which was leaked to the media. She stated Hagekhalil has harassed, demeaned and sidelined her and created a hostile work surroundings.
Hagekhalil denied the accusations, saying he has at all times handled the employees with respect and professionalism, and that the claims quantity to “disagreements on administration choices.”
The MWD board voted to put Hagekhalil on administrative go away for 90 days whereas Kasaine’s grievance and different allegations are investigated. In his place, the board briefly appointed assistant common supervisor Deven Upadhyay, who has been on the company for 29 years, as interim common supervisor.
Everts has for greater than three a long time been advocating for Southern California to scale back reliance on imported water provides by boosting native provides. He stated he has been happy to see Hagekhalil and MWD transferring ahead with plans for the nation’s largest wastewater recycling facility in Carson, and dealing to develop a plan for adapting to local weather change.
Everts stated he hopes that no matter outcomes emerge from the investigations, the company doesn’t revert to an outmoded give attention to imported water that he believes some “previous guard” leaders of MWD nonetheless favor.
Everts, like many others who spoke at Thursday’s board assembly, stated the accusations demand a good and neutral investigation.
“Hopefully, Adel comes again and continues to guide on this path. And if not, whoever would step in would do this,” Everts stated. “Does the tradition change of the company proceed to progress? That’s my query.”
MWD is the nation’s largest wholesale provider of consuming water, serving cities and companies that offer 19 million individuals throughout Southern California.
MWD Board Chair Adán Ortega Jr. stated that whereas the board made “troublesome choices” relating to the allegations towards Hagekhalil, “we keep our dedication to the insurance policies and path of this group.”
Ortega stated he doesn’t count on any change within the district’s “present coverage course.”
“Our process at hand is tackling local weather change,” Ortega stated in an interview with The Instances. “Anyone that might problem that’s up towards a fairly embedded coverage framework for tackling local weather change.”
Ortega was concerned in choosing Hagekhalil, who beforehand labored for town of Los Angeles and who was employed after a bitter battle amongst board members in 2021. Ortega stated his priorities as board chair have been the identical priorities that Hagkhalil has been pursuing.
As for the accusations towards Hagekhalil, Ortega stated he was upset that somebody leaked the confidential letter.
“I consider that whoever leaked it was attempting to field within the board. However we’re not going to allow them to, and I don’t assume it labored,” Ortega stated.
He stated all of the initiatives that Hagekhalil was engaged on will proceed below Upadhyay whereas the issues are investigated.
“The board drives the agenda,” he stated. “I feel the board has been united on issues that Adel and I’ve each shared.”
Hagekhalil has led the company at a time of main initiatives, together with negotiations aimed toward addressing water shortages on the Colorado River, plans for constructing the water recycling plant in Carson, and the MWD board’s consideration of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to construct a $20-billion water tunnel within the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
A few of Hagekhalil’s supporters questioned why the matter was dropped at the board whereas he was touring, and instructed the general public airing of grievances gave the impression to be aimed toward pushing apart a number one advocate for reworking the district’s focus.
However Ortega stated any hypothesis that putting Hagekhalil on go away may derail the MWD’s present coverage agenda is unfounded.
“The board is absolutely organized in help of that agenda,” Ortega stated. “So I don’t really feel any nervousness or doubt about our continued coverage path.”
“It’s a mistake to assume that the destiny of our coverage agenda rests on one particular person,” he added. “Nothing is altering by way of the board’s group or the gadgets that we’re contemplating in future months, or the composition of the committees. All of that’s intact. And so nothing adjustments.”
Nonetheless, some environmental advocates have stated they’re involved a couple of potential hyperlink between the surfacing of allegations towards Hagekhalil and efforts by some inside the company to push for the proposed Delta Conveyance Venture, a 45-mile tunnel that might create a second route to attract water from the Sacramento River into the aqueducts of the State Water Venture. They identified that Kasaine presently serves as treasurer of the Delta Conveyance Design and Development Authority, the entity that was created to finance the tunnel mission.
“I feel it’s a calculated ambush that’s designed to get the tunnel accredited, over the objections of different members of the Metropolitan board,” stated Patricia Schifferle, director of Pacific Advocates, an environmental consulting agency.
Throughout an MWD committee assembly on Monday, supporters and opponents of the proposed tunnel debated the prices and advantages of the mission.
Karla Nemeth, director of the State Division of Water Sources, instructed board members that the mission is crucial to enhancing the reliability of water provides within the face of local weather change, sea-level rise and a serious earthquake.
Different supporters made related arguments, whereas opponents argued that constructing the tunnel would hurt the delta’s deteriorating ecosystem and can be costlier than different water-supply options.
The prices can be paid for by city and agricultural water districts that determine to take part. The state lately launched a cost-benefit evaluation that’s meant to supply info for native water companies to think about.
The MWD would obtain a big share of the water, and the board’s eventual determination on whether or not to take part is predicted to be pivotal in figuring out whether or not the state’s plan goes ahead.
The MWD board in 2020 agreed to contribute $160.8 million towards planning and pre-construction prices. District officers say the board may take into account whether or not to supply further funding for planning and pre-construction prices on the finish of this 12 months, and it’ll possible be a number of years earlier than there’s a determination on long-term monetary participation.
When the state’s cost-benefit evaluation was launched final month, Hagekhalil stated: “The questions are, how can this mission be carried out, what sort of assurances can we have now within the resilience it offers to the Delta and our water provide future, and at what worth?”
Leaders of a number of environmental teams stated they have been upset to see Hagekhalil positioned on administrative go away earlier than the accusations towards him have been investigated.
“It’s critically essential and acceptable for MWD to take these allegations significantly and we applaud the company’s determination to research the claims made, in order that the board can have an correct understanding of what has been taking place among the many group’s senior management,” stated Bruce Reznik, govt director of the group LA Waterkeeper. “That stated, the general public wants extra info to make sure the entire independence of this evaluation.”
He stated any motion towards Hagekhalil ought to have come after an impartial investigation.
Reznik referred to as Hagekhalil a “visionary, inclusive and clear chief” who helps the company reform its method to adapt to the consequences of local weather change.
“He has been vocal about his imaginative and prescient and plans to rework the company,” Reznik stated. “That focus should proceed at MWD.”
