Adel Hagekhalil

Adel Hagekhalil is the general manager and chief executive officer for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the largest wholesale drinking water supplier in the country that provides water to 26-member public agencies, serving 19 million people.

As general manager, Hagekhalil is responsible for leading Metropolitan’s operations and long-term planning to provide safe, reliable drinking water to Southern California. He oversees Metropolitan’s $1.9 billion annual budget, 1,800 employees, and an extensive system of conveyance, storage, treatment, and delivery infrastructure.

Under Hagekhalil, the agency is entering a new era of sustainability and resiliency in the face of climate change and other threats to the region’s water reliability.  He is committed to a “One Water” vision that incorporates every source of water, including imported and groundwater supplies, reuse, conservation, stormwater and wastewater. And he is focused on empowering Metropolitan’s workforce, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion and fostering innovation and partnerships so that Metropolitan can better serve its Southern California communities.

Hagekhalil is a registered civil engineer and national board-certified environmental engineer, having earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Houston in Texas.

Before joining Metropolitan, he was the executive director and general manager of the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services. There, he worked to integrate climate adaptation, equity and green infrastructure into the largest municipal street system in the nation.

Hagekhalil has more than three decades of experience in water, climate and environmental issues, and infrastructure management, including as assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, where he oversaw the city’s wastewater collection system, stormwater and watershed protection program, water quality compliance, advance planning and facilities. He also helped develop the city’s 2040 One Water LA Plan.

Hagekhalil is a member of the American Public Works Association as well as the Water Environment Federation, which recognized him in 2019 as a WEF Fellow for his contributions to and impact in the global water environment. In 2021, he received the Edward J. Cleary Award for his public service in the conduct of environmental protection programs from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. He also served for more than a decade as a board member on the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, including a term as president.

Hagekhalil and his wife, Lubna, reside in Fullerton. They have three adult children.