(From left to right) Back Row: Blanco, Allen  Front Row: Conley, Clarke, Townsend

Members of the Board:

William B. Townsend, President

John D. S. Allen, Vice-President

Paul C. Blanco, Secretary

Frank Clarke, Member

Stephen T. Conley, Member

Board of Water Commissioners - Current Meeting Agenda
Board of Water Commissioners - Agenda Packets

Since 1931, the Water Department has been governed by a Board of five Water Commissioners, each appointed to a five-year term by the Mayor, subject to approval of the City Council. The overlapping terms of the Board members provide necessary continuity and bring to the Department the combined expertise of the Commissioner's business and professional backgrounds. In addition to the five current Commissioners, 53 citizens of the City have served as members of the Board.

The City Charter entrusts the Board with significant responsibility and authority. The Board is charged with full jurisdiction over all water works necessary to the acquisition, treatment, sale, and distribution of water served to the City and is responsible for the collection and disposal of the City's sanitary sewage. Among other duties, the Board has authority to acquire or sell real property, to construct and operate facilities, to purchase equipment and enter into contracts. The Board establishes LBWD's missions and goals, and adopts policies and strategies to meet these ends. The Board submits an annual budget to the City Council, fixes water and sewer rates, hires the General Manager and establishes compensation for all LBWD employees.

The current President of the Board is William B. Townsend, elected by his fellow Board members in October 2007. John D. S. Allen was elected Vice President and  Paul C. Blanco, Secretary.

Helen Z. Hansen serves as the City of Long Beach representative on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California. The MWD, first created by Long Beach and 12 other "original Cities," is now the largest water agency of its kind in the United States. It imports water from the Colorado River and the Sacramento Delta, for over 300 retail water agencies, or about 50 percent of the water used by the nearly 18 million people living and working in Southern California.