Gov. Newsom Appoints San Jose SPUR’s Teresa Alvarado to California Water Commission

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed the head of a Silicon Valley urban planning think tank to the California Water Commission, a nine-member regulatory body that oversees the state’s massive and complex water infrastructure.

The governor’s announced his pick of fellow Democrat Teresa Alvarado—the San Jose director of research nonprofit SPUR—in a news release earlier this week.

In a Facebook post about the honor, Alvarado, 54, said she “very much looks forward to serving” in her new role “and working to maximize the beneficial uses of our state’s precious water resources.”

A native of San Jose and a second-generation civic leader, Alvarado worked as deputy administrative officer for the Santa Clara Valley Water District (now known as Valley Water) from 2011 to 2016. In 2006, she became the first-ever executive director of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, where she worked until 2009.

Earlier in her career, she managed government relations and philanthropy for PG&E.

In addition to her work at SPUR, Alvarado, who holds a master of science degree from Tufts University, volunteers her time as an appointee to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the San Jose Diridon Station Area Advisory Group.

As a member of the California Water Commission, Alvarado will help advise the Department of Water Resources, which manages the state’s water usage. The commission also monitors the State Water Project, the nation’s largest user-financed water delivery system which serves more than 27 million people in Northern California and irrigates about 750,000 acres of farmland in the Central Valley.

Alvarado’s appointment to the state water board, which pays members $100 per diem, still awaits confirmation from the state Senate.

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