Day 2
10:00 – 11:30, Roundtables: Big Plans and Urgent Technologies
Rick Shintaku is the General Manager of the South Coast Water District (SCWD). SCWD serves approximately 35,000 residents and 2 million visitors a year in Dana Point, South Laguna Beach, and portions of San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente. Under Rick’s leadership, SCWD developed and led planning and implementation of capital improvement, water resources, and water development programs and projects, including the $100 million Tunnel Stabilization Revitalization Project; the largest ever capital improvement program that SCWD has embarked upon.
Rick also continues to lead planning of the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project, which would provide drought-proof, high-quality drinking water and an emergency water supply for the community, and potentially South Orange County. Rick is a registered Civil Engineer in California with over 25 years of experience in water/wastewater systems and environmental engineering.
Before his appointment as General Manager, he was the SCWD Assistant General Manager and Chief Engineer, having joined SCWD in 2015. Before joining SCWD, Rick served as an Engineering Manager for the City of Anaheim Water Division. Rick also served as an engineer at the State Water Resources Control Board and spent his early career in the private sector working in the environmental engineering field. Rick received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.