Governor Jerry Brown today announced the appointment of Felicia Marcus and Steven Moore to the State Water Resources Control Board and the reappointment of Charles Hoppin as the Board's Chair.
Felicia Marcus, 56, of Emeryville, has been western director at the Natural Resources Defense Council since 2008 and was executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Trust for Public Land from 2001 to 2008. She served as the administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 from 1993 to 2001.
Marcus was a commissioner on the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works from 1989 to 1993 and served as president of the Board from 1991 to 1993. She has been a member of the Delta Stewardship Council since 2010.
This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $128,109. Marcus is a Democrat.
Steven Moore, 45, of Sausalito, has been a civil and sanitary engineer at Nute Engineering since 2006 and has been a member of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board since 2008. He served in multiple positions at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board from 1999 to 2006 and 1992 to 1996, including resources control engingeer.
He was a senior engineer at Montgomery Watson Consulting Engineers from 1997 to 1998. Moore was an environmental analyst and biologist for Earth Metrics Inc. from 1989 to 1991.
This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $128,109. Moore is a Democrat.
Charles Hoppin, of Yuba City, will remain chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, according to the Governor's Office. Hoppin was appointed to the Board in 2006 and has served as chair since 2009. He is a partner in a family farm operation in Sutter and Yolo Counties.
Carolee Krieger, President of the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN), and Bill Jennings, Chair/Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), responded positively to the appointments.
"We hope that these new appointees will follow the law and uphold their fidicuiary reponsibility to the people of California," said Carolee Krieger. "They need to remove the paper water from contracts by revoking the grossly overpromised water rights permits in California water systems."
"Felicia Marcus is intelligent, knowledgable, approachable and will be a major asset to the board," said Bill Jennings. "When Steven Moore was on staff at the regional water board, he was very approachable. I only heard good things about him as he served on the board."
"Both Marcus and Moore are exceptional individuals and both will bring experience and knowledge to the board as it with wrestles with the intractable problems before it. However, Marcus' appointment raises a huge question of who will fill her spot on the Delta Stewardship Council," noted Jennings.
The appointments were made at a crucial time for California water and fish populations. The Brown administration remains committed to a plan to divert more water to corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and southern California by constructing a peripheral canal or tunnel. The diversion of more water would hasten the extinction of winter run chinook salmon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt and other fish species, according to agency and independent scientists.
The mission of the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board), created by the Legislature in 1967 is "to preserve, enhance and restore the quality of California’s water resources, and ensure their proper allocation and efficient use for the benefit of present and future generations.”