FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., March 12, 2004 -- The Municipal Water District of Orange County's (MWDOC) assistant general manager and district engineer Karl W. Seckel has been appointed as interim general manager of the District while a search for a new general manager continues.
The appointment took effect on Monday following the retirement last week of longtime general manager Stanley E. Sprague.
Seckel, a professional engineer with bachelor's and master's degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland, began his career with Boyle Engineering Corporation in 1978. After six years with the firm, he was hired by MWDOC in 1983 as its operations engineer and was promoted to assistant general manager and district engineer in 1987.
As assistant general manager, Seckel has been responsible for much of the District's day-to-day administration and management, providing indirect supervision of the District staff's general planning, water use efficiency and emergency preparedness functions, and interfacing with its board of directors, member agencies, and with other water agencies in Southern California.
In his role as interim general manager, Seckel will continue to drive the projects and activities involving the District that had been handled previously by Sprague and will be among the many activities assumed by the District's new general manager.
Until a selection is made and a new general manager is hired, the Board of Directors is comfortable that Seckel will do an effective job keeping the District's operations running smoothly and maintaining strong relations throughout Orange County.
"The Board is confident that Karl will keep the District running efficiently until such time as a new general manager begins his or her tenure at MWDOC," said board president Brett R. Barbre. "Each member agency knows, respects and works well with Karl, so the transition should be seamless."
The Municipal Water District of Orange County is a public planning and resource management agency that was formed in 1951 and today provides imported water to more than two million Orange County residents through 28 cities and water districts and two private water companies.
