Debra C. Man

Title: 
Assistant General Manager and Chief Operating Officer
Organization: 
Metropolitan Water District
Biography: 

Debra C. Man is the assistant general manager and chief operating officer for Metropolitan. She is responsible for managing the operational business functions of the district, which include system operations, engineering, planning and resources management. In this position, one of her primary duties is to implement the Chief Executive Officer's Business Plan and initiatives, as well as, to oversee the application and operational practice of the Board's policies and directives.

She brings to her position 20 years of experience at Metropolitan in various aspects of business and water management. During this tenure, she was responsible for securing water supplies through agreements and partnerships with other water and agricultural interests in San Joaquin Valley and Southern California and demonstrated Metropolitan's water supply reliability in compliance with current laws. She was also responsible for major initiatives adopted by Metropolitan's board, such as the Integrated Resources Plan, new rate structure, and facility plans and environmental review for the district's major expansion of its distribution system and water filtration plants.

Man began her career at Metropolitan in 1986 as an engineer in the district's resources division, developing groundwater storage programs. She advanced to become a principal engineer in the planning division in January 1990 with the responsibility of overseeing facility plans for the district's capital improvement program. She progressed to assistant director of planning in September of 1990, director of planning in November 1992, and chief of planning and resources in July 1994. She became Vice President for Water Transfers and Exchanges in July 1999. She was named the Chief Operating Officer in December 2003.

A native of Honolulu, Man earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Hawaii and a master's degree in civil/environmental engineering from Stanford University.

Prior to joining Metropolitan, she was a project engineer for a private engineering firm in Southern California for four years, planning and designing water and wastewater treatment and distribution facilities.

A registered professional civil engineer in California and Hawaii, Man is a member of the American Water Works Association and the Association of California Water Agencies.

Category: 
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