Brady selected as new GM for FPUD

Water and power industry veteran Brian Brady has been selected as the new general manager for Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD).

The agency’s board of directors approved a $192,250.04 annual contract, plus benefits, for Brady at a special board meeting held Friday, July 15. The new contract extended to Brady exceeds that of retiring general manager Keith Lewinger. The district began its search for a new general manager the second week of February and fielded 92 candidates.

“Brian comes to us with a tremendous background of experience and he will be able to hit the ground running,” said Don McDougal, board president.

Brady, a resident of Temecula, most recently worked as an independent consultant after serving as general manager of Imperial Irrigation District, and prior to that, Rancho California Water District. Those positions, in addition to his previous employment with Southern California Edison, results in him having 40 years of combined experience in water and power.

When asked what interested him about the Fallbrook position, Brady said, “This position is a great fit for me from the perspective that I have a significant amount of water industry experience and have dealt with the involved agencies such as the Metropolitan Water District and San Diego County Water Authority for many years. I have also worked with Keith Lewinger on many issues of common interest in this industry.”

McDougal confirmed that Brady was a prime candidate because of his level of experience in multiple areas.

“He is well-experienced in things such as litigation matters and working with the water agencies that provide us with our water,” said McDougal. “He will require very little to be able to step in and assume the lead.”

Brady said his impression of FPUD has always been a good one.

“Throughout our industry, [FPUD] is considered a well-run operation; Keith has done a terrific job,” said Brady.

Brady already had a vested interest in Fallbrook, prior to accepting the FPUD position.

“My wife, Carol Lee, and I have property in Fallbrook that we operate a vineyard on,” he said. “The property has been in my wife’s family for over 60 years.” The couple resides in the Temecula wine country and has a vineyard at their residence as well.

“We sell our grapes to wineries and have started making some ourselves,” said Brady.

In discussing what his focus will be at FPUD, Brady said it will be the same as the majority of other water district general managers.

“The big concern is the price of water and how other sources of water can be developed,” said Brady. “We know we will continue to receive increases when it comes to imported water. It is up to us to keep exploring other alternatives like the Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project, additional groundwater resources, increasing the availability of recycled water, and exploring desalination.”

Brady said the desalination option is “still expensive compared to developing local water supplies or buying imported water.”

“It’s similar to items like solar power and electric cars, they have great promise but economically they are still not as desirable,” he said.

Brady said he will explore those topics and more in his new position.

McDougal said he is pleased with the selection of Brady and the job the recruitment firm, Bob Murray & Associates, did. The firm charged a fee of $16,500 plus expenses to conduct the search.

“We actually had a plethora of highly qualified, very capable people; the headhunting firm did a wonderful job,” said McDougal.

“When we narrowed it down, seven individuals shined above the rest. Then we narrowed it down to three and

was in that top three,” McDougal said.

“It was a tough process, but I am confident we got one of the best ones,” he said.

Brady began as general manager for FPUD position on Tuesday, July 19.

Fallbrook Public Utility District is responsible for supplying water to 28,000 acres in and around the Fallbrook area and operates with an annual budget of over 27 million dollars.