Water Authority building-Mona Rios-primaryThe San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors December 10 elected Mona Rios as vice chair to serve with Board Chair Gary Croucher and Secretary Jerry Butkiewicz. She is the first Latina to serve as a Board officer in the Water Authority’s 76-year history. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority

Mona Rios Elected Vice Chair of Water Authority Board

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors on Thursday elected Mona Rios as vice chair to serve with Board Chair Gary Croucher and Secretary Jerry Butkiewicz. She is the first Latina to serve as a Board officer in the Water Authority’s 76-year history.

Rios joined the Water Authority Board in January 2020, and represents the City of National City, where she serves as the Vice Mayor. A fourth-generation National City resident, Rios has served on the National City Council since 2010. She is a member of the Water Authority Board’s Legislation and Public Outreach Committee and the Water Planning and Environmental Committee.

Mona Rios has a long history of public service

She served on the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Board of Directors, was Vice Chair of the San Diego MTS Board of Trustees 2017-2019, and is an alternate member of the San Diego Association of Governments board. Rios has served as the representative for National City on numerous regional and statewide governmental agencies.

“I look forward to building partnerships that ensure an affordable and reliable water supply that helps San Diego County thrive,” said Rios. “From Fallbrook to the South Bay, we are stronger together.”

“I look forward to building partnerships that ensure an affordable and reliable water supply that helps San Diego County thrive,” said Mona Rios, after she was elected Vice Chair of the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors December 10.

After more than six years of service on the Water Authority Board, outgoing Vice Chair Christy Guerin is retiring from the Board at the end of 2020. That created an opening for a new Board officer.

“We applaud Christy for all of her efforts to support the Water Authority and our region through her distinguished career,” said Chair Croucher. “And we welcome Mona Rios to help set a course for the future – a course that we will navigate together with teamwork and a commitment to the San Diego County community.”

The Water Authority’s 36-member board, representing 24 retail member water agencies, holds its regular meetings on the fourth Thursday of each month January through October. The November and December meetings are combined. Board meetings have been conducted online since April 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and are live-streamed on the Water Authority’s website. Board documents and webcasts of Board meetings are at www.sdcwa.org/board-directors.