WALNUT CREEK, CA -- The California Urban Water Agencies (CUWA) today announces Brown and Caldwell’s Wendy Broley will assume the role of executive director effective July 1, replacing Cindy Paulson after 10 years in the role.
CUWA is a non-profit corporation of 11 major urban water agencies responsible for serving drinking water to over two-thirds of California’s population. The collective voice for the largest urban water purveyors in the state, CUWA provides a technical perspective to promote common understanding and consensus solutions among the urban water community.
Under the 10-year leadership of Executive Director Cindy Paulson, CUWA has established itself as an authority on water finance, affordability, and rural water accessibility, culminating in a Water Research Foundation (WRF) report with the Pacific Institute: Solutions for Underperforming Drinking Water Systems in California. During Paulson’s tenure, CUWA has also emerged as a technical leader on potable reuse, water supply reliability, and emerging contaminants, in addition to initiating significant efforts on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“We value the legacy and transformative influence Cindy leaves behind as she passes the baton to a very well-respected water expert in Wendy,” said outgoing CUWA Board Chair Robert Shaver.
As Brown and Caldwell One Water leader, Broley has earned a growing reputation in evaluating alternative water uses and developing diverse and resilient water supply portfolios to meet 21st-century challenges. Her 20 years of engineering and operations expertise includes integrated One Water policy, strategic planning, and process engineering for a host of membrane and advanced treatment systems for potable reuse, surface water treatment, and groundwater desalination applications. She played a vital role as co-principal investigator for WRF’s Blueprint for One Water research project.
A long-term CUWA staff member, Broley has facilitated numerous committees encompassing water reuse, equity, innovation, and digital transformation, as well as advancing technical studies for California water policy, including Building a Framework for Potable Reuse Operator Certification and Adapting to Change: Utility Systems and Declining Flows. More recently, she facilitated CUWA’s strategic planning workshops in FY20 and FY21.
“It has been my honor and privilege to work with CUWA and all the dedicated leaders and staff associated with our 11 member agencies over the last decade,” said Paulson. “In Wendy, CUWA is getting a passionate, knowledgeable, and committed professional who will be a terrific asset in CUWA’s ongoing mission to advance reliable, high-quality urban water supplies in a cost-effective manner for the public, the environment, and the economy.”
Broley holds a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, and is a licensed professional engineer in California.
