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Joe Mouawad of Eastern Municipal Water District: Diversifying Supply for EfficiencyMinded Customers
EMWD's desalination complex.
H
ow has California’s Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) decreased its dependence on imported water during a period when the local population nearly doubled? By taking water use efficiency seriously and making smart investments in local resources, including recycled water and desalination plants. In this interview, new General Manager Joe Mouawad talks about how his forward-thinking agency is planning for a drier future. Municipal Water Leader: Please discuss your background and how you came to be in your current position.
6 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER | January 2022
Municipal Water Leader: How have your past positions at the district prepared you for the role of general manager? Joe Mouawad: Since starting at EMWD, I have been actively involved in many of the efforts that have propelled the district to become nationally recognized as a progressive agency. This included being responsible for overseeing the district’s capital improvement program, which typically invests $100 million a year in infrastructure to expand our water, wastewater, and recycled water systems. EMWD’s board of directors has long made it a strategic priority to become a national leader in water reuse, to expand our investments in local groundwater supplies, and to secure record-setting grant funding to reduce municipalwaterleader.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF EMWD.
Joe Mouawad: For the past 30 years, I have been a part of the water industry, and in 2006, I joined EMWD as its director of engineering. Since then, I’ve had the privilege to take on additional responsibilities at the district, including serving in various leadership roles. Most recently, I served as assistant
general manager, overseeing the planning, engineering, and construction branch. In May 2021, I was fortunate enough to be selected as EMWD’s general manager.
