Water Supply & Planning Manager

The Water Supply & Planning Manager plays a key role in securing the long-term reliability and sustainability of the district’s water supplies. This role includes responsibility for coordination and oversight of water supply and planning efforts, including long-term planning, water use efficiency, local and imported water supply management, fisheries restoration activities, alternative water supply investigations, regional partnerships, compliance with water supply requirements, dry-year supply planning, and involvement in other regional and state issues that may impact district supplies. Through a multidisciplinary team of fourteen and cross-functional collaboration across the district, this position provides an exciting opportunity to be a driving force in protecting our resources and planning for sustainable water supplies for the future of our community.

 

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS 

Water Supply and Planning Manager is a single-position mid-manager classification. Under administrative direction, within a framework of overall goals and objectives, the incumbent is responsible for the direction and coordination of water supply and resources planning efforts, including protecting and preserving District supplies, coordinating the development of long-range water supply plans, alternate water supplies, regional partnerships, and dry-year supply planning; supervising the implementation of water use efficiency; coordinating compliance with water supply assessment requirements; and coordinating District activities with regard to fisheries restoration efforts and other regional and state issues that may impact District supplies. Responsibilities are broad in scope and require leadership and independent judgment on issues that are complex, interpretive, and evaluative in nature. 

 

This classification is distinguished from the Water Use Efficiency Supervisor and other water resources professionals including engineers and analysts, in that the latter classes may report to this class. This classification is distinguished from the Director of Water Resources in that the latter is a department head with overall responsibility for directing District-wide water resources and related services and provides direction to this classification.  

IDEAL CANDIDATE: Candidates with significant experience in water resources planning, interagency collaboration, oversight of complex technical modeling and evaluations, and managing a multi-disciplinary team are highly desirable.

Strong knowledge of:

• Current California surface water & groundwater policies, politics, laws, regulations, and issues.
• Best practices for long-range water supply planning and drought management.
•  Water resources modeling, including scoping analyses, guiding teams, and integrating results into strategic planning.
• Water system infrastructure and operational practices related to delivering reliable groundwater and surface water supplies.

Strong skills in:

• Planning, organizing, and directing complex and specialized water resources planning studies and analyses.
• Collaborating with a wide range of partners on technical and non-technical issues.
• Communication (both written & oral) and strategic thinking.
• Mentoring and employee development.
• Cross-functional collaboration and leadership, along with managing a highly effective team.

REQUIREMENTS 

Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge, skills, and abilities would be the equivalent of: 

Education and Experience: 

Possession of a Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in civil engineering or a related field; and six (6) years of progressively responsible water resources planning experience, including three (3) years of lead experience directing the work of others in the field and completion of at least 75% of the District’s Leadership Skills Training Program. Supervisory experience strongly desired. One (1) year of supervisory experience may substitute for completion of the District’s Leadership Skills Training Program.  

 If not previously completed, completion of the District’s Leadership Skills Training Program is required following hire. 

Selection Procedure:

Application materials including a supplemental questionnaire must be submitted online at: www.acwd.org/jobs by the final filing date of Monday, October 27, 2025 at 5:00 pm PST. Candidates who present the best job-related qualifications will be invited to participate in a qualification appraisal as well as an interview by an appraisal panel. Candidates passing the qualifications appraisal process will be ranked on an employment list for further consideration. Top-ranking candidates will be invited to a personal interview with the hiring Supervisor.