Local News in Brief : Countywide : New Executive Officer Named to Water Board

Gerard Thibeault was named Friday as the new executive officer of the Santa Ana Region of the California Regional Water Quality Board.

Thibeault, 37, succeeds James R. Bennett, who resigned after three years as the regional board’s top executive to become chief deputy director of the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento.

Thibeault, who will earn $61,000 a year, has worked as Bennett’s assistant in the regional office for 2 1/2 years. As executive officer, Thibeault will oversee the formulation and implementation of water quality policies in the Santa Ana River Basin, which includes the metropolitan areas of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. With rapid development in the region, there has been growing concern about the quality of surface water, particularly of the tributaries that flow into the Santa Ana River, the area’s major river.

The regional board also monitors water quality in Orange County harbors and inlets, including Newport Harbor, one of the nation’s busiest harbors with more than 10,000 private boats.

Bennett said one of his principal responsibilities at the state board will be to develop a clean-water strategy for California.