Much of Southern California’s water comes from Northern California, the Sierra snowpack, and the Colorado River. One of the agencies tasked with making that happen is the Metropolitan Water District (MWD), headquartered in downtown LA by Union Station. Nearly 19 million people across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties depend on MWD for at least some of their water supply.

Hundreds of MWD workers have a new incoming leader: Adel Hagekhalil. He’s the outgoing head of LA’s Bureau of Street Services. Before that, he was second-in-command at the city’s sanitation department.