After fifteen years leading the largest water provider in California, Jeff Kightlinger stepped down from his role as general manager at Metropolitan Water District (MWD). Over the course of his career, Kightlinger oversaw the water supply for 19 million Californians during unprecedented challenges to the state’s water security. His experience as general manager makes him a foremost expert on the many challenges currently threatening California’s water supplies—from crumbling infrastructure to a drying Colorado River. Before passing on the torch to his successor at Metropolitan, Kightlinger sat down with Western Water to provide some final thoughts about the future of California’s water.

In the years since Kightlinger first joined MWD district as a deputy general counsel in 1995, California’s waterscape has undergone rapid transformations. Global climate change and aging infrastructure threaten two of Southern California’s largest water sources: the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Colorado River. With traditional water supplies…