James M. Barrett, director of the city of San Diego’s Water Department, was seated today as a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Barrett is among four directors representing the San Diego County Water Authority on the 37-member MWD board.  He replaces Claude A. “Bud” Lewis, who had served on the Metropolitan board since January 1998.

A member of the Water Authority’s board of directors since October, Barrett represents the city of San Diego.  Barrett serves on the SDCWA board’s engineering and operations committee and water planning committee.

As the city’s water department director since May, Barrett oversees more than 900 employees and a $360 million annual operating budget.  The city’s water system treats and delivers more than 200 million gallons of water daily through more than 3,400 miles of pipelines.  The department serves the city, provides treated water service to the city of Del Mar, and supplies wholesale service to the California-American Water Co., delivering water to Coronado, Imperial Beach and portions of southern San Diego.

Prior to joining the city staff, Barrett was vice president at Earth Tech, Inc., a global engineering consulting firm, where he organized the company’s approach in handling U.S. Naval base realignments and closures.

Barrett retired from the U.S. Navy as the commanding officer of the Navy Public Works Center in San Diego and regional engineer in August 2004 after 28 years of service.  Commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy’s Civic Engineer Corps through the direct appointment program, Barrett’s naval career included tours of duty throughout the nation.

Born in New London, Conn., Barrett earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Stanford University.

A registered civil engineer in California, he also is a graduate of the Naval Water College Command and Staff program and has completed an advanced executive program at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Barrett and his wife, Marguerite, reside in San Diego.  They have two daughters.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage, and other resource-management programs.