Board Members

Norma Camacho
Norma Camacho (Chair)
City of Residence: Camarillo
Term Expiration Date:

Norma J. Camacho is currently serving as an external member of the Board of Directors for Stillwater Sciences, a consulting services firm striving to balance beneficial uses of water and watersheds using science-based natural resource management and habitat restoration. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Watershed Solutions Network, a non-profit network of leaders committed to integrated, equitable, and resilient water management solutions. Ms. Camacho retired as CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Water District in 2021 and from the County of Ventura where she served for over 20 years. She received of BS in Civil Engineering from Stanford University.

David Nahai
David Nahai (Vice Chair)
City of Residence: Los Angeles
Term Expiration Date:

David Nahai is President of David Nahai Associates, Inc., a law firm specializing in real estate and sustainability transactional matters. He is also President of David Nahai Consulting Services, Inc., which specializes in the renewable energy, energy efficiency, and water sectors. Mr. Nahai previously served as the General Manager and Commission President of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. Mr. Nahai is also the former Chair of the L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board, and former Senior Advisor to the Clinton Climate Initiative. He was reappointed to the Water Board by Governor Newsom in 2021 and is currently its Vice-Chair. Additionally, he serves as Chair of the Los Angeles Business Council, and as a Board Member of the UCLA Luskin Center, Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, Climate Resolve and LAANE. Mr. Nahai holds graduate and postgraduate degrees from the London School of Economics and UC Berkeley.
Sabrina Ashjian
Sabrina Ashjian
City of Residence: Camarillo
Term Expiration Date:

Sabrina Ashjian is a clinical supervising attorney and project director in the Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment at UCLA School of Law. Previously she was at the UC Berkeley School of Law, where she lectured on the topics of environmental law, environmental justice, and legislative advocacy and oversaw students in the Environmental Law Clinic. Her work focuses on sustainability, climate mitigation and adaptation solutions, just energy transition, and equitable green infrastructure development. Ms. Ashjian has more than 15 years of legal experience during which she has handled environmental crimes both civilly and criminally, including assuring access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water. Ms. Ashjian received her JD/MBA from Pepperdine University, her M.A. in Journalism from University of Southern California, and her B.B.A. from George Washington University. She is licensed to practice law in California, New York, and in the United States Supreme Court.
Marissa Christiansen
Marissa Christiansen
City of Residence: Los Angeles
Term Expiration Date:

Marissa Christiansen is the former President & CEO of Friends of the Los Angeles River and Director of the Water Table with the Water Foundation. Christiansen is a career advocate on a mission for a sustainable future for the next generation.
Dr. Michael Méndez
Dr. Michael Méndez
City of Residence: Long Beach
Term Expiration Date:
Dr. Michael Méndez is an assistant professor of environmental policy and planning at the University of California, Irvine, an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and Visiting Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (through a National Science Foundation Early Faculty Career Award). He previously was the Pinchot Faculty Fellow in Sustainability Studies at the Yale School of the Environment. Michael has more than a decade of senior-level experience in the public and private sectors, where he consulted and actively engaged in the policymaking process.

Board Member Info:

The Governor of California appoints the seven-member Regional Board, whose members serve four-year terms once they are confirmed by the State Senate. Members of the Regional Board serve part-time and conduct their business at regular meetings where public participation is encouraged. The Board normally holds public meetings 10 times per year to make decisions on water quality matters.

Regional Board members must reside in, or have a principal place of business within, the Region.

The Board relies on the Regional Board staff to conduct the day-to-day tasks associated with water quality management. Most of them are engineers, geologists and biologists.

Implementing programs according to state and federal law and following the Board's direction, staff recommends water quality standards, drafts permits, oversees remediation of contaminated sites, conducts enforcements activities, and deals directly with the public on a regular basis.