Say hello to Jeffrey Kightlinger. He was the Chief Executive Officer for The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California from 2006 to 2021. The Metropolitan Water District is the largest municipal water provider in the nation delivering an average of over 2 billion gallons of water a day to 19 million residents in Southern California. Metropolitan serves one out of every two Californians across the six counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura. Mr. Kightlinger was the longest serving CEO in the history of Metropolitan. As CEO, he oversaw Metropolitan’s $1.8 billion annual budget and 1,800 employees. Prior to becoming CEO, Mr. Kightlinger was Metropolitan’s chief legal officer, and a known expert on water law and Colorado River issues.
Currently, Mr. Kightlinger is serving as the Interim General Manager of the City of Pasadena’s Water and Power Department pending recruitment of a new general manager. Pasadena Water and Power is a full-service utility providing water and power service to the 150,000 residents of Pasadena with over 400 employees and an annual budget of $275 million. Mr. Kightlinger also provides strategic advice on natural resource, water, and energy issues to clients.
Kightlinger has an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a law degree from Santa Clara University.