West Basin Board Announces Patrick Sheilds As General Manager
The West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) Board of Directors announced that Patrick Sheilds will serve as the new General Manager of the District. Bringing more than 20 years of executive experience in the water industry in both public and private sectors, Sheilds will support West Basin in achieving its water reliability goals.
“The Board selected Mr. Sheilds for his particular expertise in water recycling programs and his previous experience with our agency,” said West Basin Board President Donald L. Dear. “We expect his leadership will navigate the District toward its goals of water security for the service area and help to overcome water challenges in the region.”
“West Basin has an internationally acclaimed water recycling program and is a respected voice in the water industry,” said Sheilds. “I am looking forward to working with the Board of Directors and District staff to provide a reliable supply of water to the West Basin community.”
Prior to joining the District, Sheilds held the role of executive director of operations at the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD), which supplies potable water to an estimated half million people, and produces approximately 30 million gallons per day of recycled water.
Since 2013, Sheilds helped IRWD to diversify its water portfolio, decreasing its dependence on imported water and growing its treated groundwater and recycling programs. He played a pivotal role in developing the largest clean energy storage network at a public water agency in the United States, implementing a cutting-edge public-private partnership that will allow IRWD to address one of the great environmental challenges facing California and the water industry today, the water-energy nexus. IRWD’s 7-megawatt network of advanced energy storage systems will be installed at 11 of IRWD’s largest and most energy-intensive facilities as part of a major grid modernization project for Southern California Edison.
Prior to his role at IRWD, Sheilds was the executive manager of operations for the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, where he led more than 200 employees across several departments, overseeing the operations of about 60 million gallons of recycled water per day at its water recycling facilities, and serving a population of almost 1 million people. He was also the executive lead for the “Go Gridless” program, which involved the implementation of large-scale renewable energy projects including solar, wind and fuel-cell.
Additionally, Sheilds served as vice president and division manager of operations for United Water Services, where he directed operations of several publicly and investor-owned potable and recycled water utilities. Sheilds’ time at United includes his oversight as a project manager of three large-scale expansions of the West Basin Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility in El Segundo, Calif.
About West Basin Municipal Water District
West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) is a wholesale water agency that provides imported drinking water to nearly one million people in 17 cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County. West Basin is an industry leader in water conservation, recycling and education. The District is implementing a Water Reliability program to reduce the agency’s dependence on imported water and develop local, drought-proof water supplies. This includes water conservation, recycling, groundwater desalting and the exploration of ocean water desalination. For more information, visit www.westbasin.org.
Source: West Basin Municipal Water District