Hey all, I hope you’ll read my latest L.A. Times column and let me know what you think. Here’s how it starts:
>*There are few government agencies more central to daily life in Los Angeles than the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which spends billions of dollars each year ensuring that 19 million people have enough to drink, in part by importing hundreds of billions of gallons from the Colorado River and Northern California.*
>*There are also few agencies more prone to bitter power struggles.*
>*The latest drama could reach a tipping point Monday, when Metropolitan’s board will consider firing the agency’s general manager — with potentially huge consequences for our water supplies, depending on whom you ask.*
>*But is this a story about a bad boss, mistreating employees of an agency previously rocked by sexual harassment allegations? Or is it yet another water conspiracy in a region with a long history of schemers and plunderers?*
>*Over the last week, I’ve interviewed more than half a dozen people familiar with the details of the water district’s multiple investigations into Adel Hagekhalil — none of them willing to be named or quoted. It’s difficult for me to say with certainty whether Hagekhalil did anything wrong — or whether his possible ouster from Metropolitan is the product of a plot to reverse his climate-friendly policy priorities, as environmental groups allege.*
>*But I do feel confident saying a few things.*
>*First some background on Metropolitan, whose 12-story office tower looms over Union Station.*
>*Our story begins in 2021, when the agency hired Hagekhalil, then an official at L.A. City Hall. The board vote was razor thin, with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Metropolitan appointees supporting Hagekhalil. They hoped he would shift the agency’s focus from imported water — which has become increasingly unreliable as rising temperatures dry out rivers and snowpack — to more dependable local sources, such as recycling, stormwater and groundwater.*
>*Hagekhalil’s selection was opposed by some Orange County and Inland Empire officials. They’re not against local water or conservation. But they’re more open to big infrastructure projects loathed by environmentalists, such as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed $20-billion water tunnel beneath NorCal’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.*
>*So when Hagekhalil was accused by a Metropolitan staffer of harassment — after which the board placed him on administrative leave in June — it’s perhaps no surprise that environmental activists smelled a conspiracy.*
Again, I hope you’ll read the whole piece and let me know what you think. If you’re interested, you can sign up to get my twice-weekly Boiling Point newsletters in your inbox here: [latimes.com/boilingpoint](http://latimes.com/boilingpoint)
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Hey all, I hope you’ll read my latest L.A. Times column and let me know what you think. Here’s how it starts:
>*There are few government agencies more central to daily life in Los Angeles than the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which spends billions of dollars each year ensuring that 19 million people have enough to drink, in part by importing hundreds of billions of gallons from the Colorado River and Northern California.*
>*There are also few agencies more prone to bitter power struggles.*
>*The latest drama could reach a tipping point Monday, when Metropolitan’s board will consider firing the agency’s general manager — with potentially huge consequences for our water supplies, depending on whom you ask.*
>*But is this a story about a bad boss, mistreating employees of an agency previously rocked by sexual harassment allegations? Or is it yet another water conspiracy in a region with a long history of schemers and plunderers?*
>*Over the last week, I’ve interviewed more than half a dozen people familiar with the details of the water district’s multiple investigations into Adel Hagekhalil — none of them willing to be named or quoted. It’s difficult for me to say with certainty whether Hagekhalil did anything wrong — or whether his possible ouster from Metropolitan is the product of a plot to reverse his climate-friendly policy priorities, as environmental groups allege.*
>*But I do feel confident saying a few things.*
>*First some background on Metropolitan, whose 12-story office tower looms over Union Station.*
>*Our story begins in 2021, when the agency hired Hagekhalil, then an official at L.A. City Hall. The board vote was razor thin, with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Metropolitan appointees supporting Hagekhalil. They hoped he would shift the agency’s focus from imported water — which has become increasingly unreliable as rising temperatures dry out rivers and snowpack — to more dependable local sources, such as recycling, stormwater and groundwater.*
>*Hagekhalil’s selection was opposed by some Orange County and Inland Empire officials. They’re not against local water or conservation. But they’re more open to big infrastructure projects loathed by environmentalists, such as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed $20-billion water tunnel beneath NorCal’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.*
>*So when Hagekhalil was accused by a Metropolitan staffer of harassment — after which the board placed him on administrative leave in June — it’s perhaps no surprise that environmental activists smelled a conspiracy.*
Again, I hope you’ll read the whole piece and let me know what you think. If you’re interested, you can sign up to get my twice-weekly Boiling Point newsletters in your inbox here: [latimes.com/boilingpoint](http://latimes.com/boilingpoint)
Paywall oh well.