Senate Rules Committee advances reappointments of State Water Resources Control Board Chair Esquivel and member Morgan

The Senate Rules Committee voted to advance the reappointments of Chair Esquivel and board member Ben Morgan to the State Water Resources Control Board, sending both nominations to the full Senate by a recorded 5-0 vote.

Chair Esquivel told the committee the board has prioritized reducing the number of Californians without access to clean water, saying the population affected has fallen from about 1.6 million to roughly 800,000 in recent years. "We know we still have a lot of work to do on that front," he said, noting the board's role responding to drought, wildfires and emerging contaminants.

Members pressed the chair and Morgan on several recurring issues: whether statewide, "one‑size‑fits‑all" orders accommodate regional differences such as those between the North Coast and the Central Valley; how consolidation or other solutions are applied to small, often urban mutual water systems; and how the board is addressing manganese and affordability for small systems.

Esquivel said the nine regional water boards exist to account for local conditions but acknowledged that the state board sometimes adopts general orders that are intended to achieve efficiencies while allowing local flexibility in implementation. "We try our best to not dictate how people achieve compliance," he said, adding that much of the board's work occurs on implementation once a policy is adopted.

Board member Morgan, a civil engineer, described his role as ensuring the board's decisions rest on a "strong scientific foundation" and said he focuses on identifying technical questions that staff must answer before policy decisions are layered on. "It is really just that last checkpoint," Morgan said.

Committee members also discussed the Safe and Affordable Fund (passed in 2019) and the Division of Drinking Water's transfer to the State Water Board in 2014 as factors that increased resources and technical assistance for struggling systems. Esquivel and Morgan cited consolidations and technical assistance as tools the board is using; Esquivel reported roughly 140 consolidations and about 300 systems returned to compliance since 2019.

Lawmakers raised community cases in Southeast Los Angeles and San Lucas as examples. The chair described ongoing efforts around Tract 349 in Cudahy, including possible consolidation with nearby providers and scheduled community meetings. Morgan said the Division of Drinking Water is preparing work on manganese and will bring that issue to the board later in the year.

More than a dozen local agencies, water associations and trade groups testified in support of the reappointments, including the California Water Association, Association of California Water Agencies, California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance, California Municipal Utilities Association and agricultural water and stormwater organizations. Speakers praised both appointees as accessible, knowledgeable and collaborative on complex water issues.

A vice chair moved both nominations to the Senate floor. The committee recorded votes of Maguire, Grove, Gonzales, Jones and Laird as "aye," yielding a 5-0 result. Both reappointments now proceed to the full Senate for final confirmation.