Board of Directors

Board of Directors

The SCV Water Board of Directors consists of nine directly elected directors, from three electoral divisions equally representing all corners of the Santa Clarita Valley. Elections are held each even-numbered year and the term of office for all elected Directors is four years.

Kathye Armitage - Director

Kathye Armitage is a mother, public health professional, and advocate for sustainable natural resources. A lifelong resident of Los Angeles County, Ms. Armitage earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Administration at CSUN and her Master of Public Health at UCLA before spending a decade working at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health where she planned, implemented, and evaluated programs and policies focused on vulnerable populations in Los Angeles County. While pausing her career for full-time caretaking, Ms. Armitage began a second career path by earning her Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Natural Resources from Oregon State University and also her Certificate in Water Systems Technology from College of the Canyons.

Ms. Armitage was selected to serve on the Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency Stakeholder Advisory Committee in 2020 to help provide input to the Groundwater Sustainability Plan. She is also proud to volunteer her time in the community as a local Girl Scout leader to inspire local youth to dream big, explore new interests, and develop leadership skills.

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 3
  • Elected: January 2021
  • Term Expires: January 2025

 Committees

  • Member: Finance and Administration
  • Member: Public Outreach and Legislation
Beth Braunstein - Director

Beth Braunstein was born in Gainesville, Florida and moved to Israel when she was 5. She returned to the US in 2001 with her husband, her high school sweetheart, and their kids.

Beth and her family have been living in Santa Clarita for almost five years. She has spent the last 9 years homeschooling her kids and raising their hobby farm.

Beth is excited to be a new member of the water board and is looking forward to serving her community.

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 1
  • Elected: January 2021
  • Term Expires: January 2025

Committees

  • Member: Public Outreach and Legislation

Edward Colley - Director

Edward Colley has served on the CLWA Board of Directors since 2003. He is a retired United States Air Force Captain where he served as a Space Systems Engineer including an assignment to Germany as the Senior Engineer for the European Space Systems Ground Site where he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. Mr. Colley is treasurer of Pleasantview Industries as well as Director on the Devil’s Den Water District Board. Additionally, he is a peer mentor for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (T*A*P*S).

Mr. Colley holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a Public Education Administration Credential from National University.

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 2
  • Elected: January 2018
  • Term Expires: January 2025

Committees

  • Member: Finance and Administration
  • Member: Public Outreach and Legislation

Boards

  • Member: Devil’s Den Water District

William Cooper - Director

William Cooper is a long-time water professional having worked for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for about 40 years. During that time, he held various posts including the Water Treatment Section Manager overseeing the operations and maintenance of all five Metropolitan Water Treatment Plants that supply about one-half of all the water to the 19 million people in Southern California. Mr. Cooper has managed some of the largest water treatment plants in the United States and was an adjunct Professor at College of the Canyons teaching the Environmental Technologies Water Treatment Program.

Mr. Cooper has served on the CLWA Board since 1993 and was President of the Board for five years from 1996 to 2001. Since then, he has served on various committees and has chaired the Planning and Engineering Committee providing oversight of the Agency’s $55 million Capital Improvement Program.

An active participant in the Santa Clarita Valley community, Mr. Cooper is a member of the Child and Family Center Governing Board and serves on the Child Centers Foundation Board and was the Board Chair from 2005-2006. He was appointed by Santa Clarita Mayor Frank Ferry to the City’s Elected Officials Committee on teenage alcohol and drug abuse and was a member of the Hart District Schools Site Council. He has been a member of the American Water Works Association and the Association for California Water Agencies as well as many other organizations.

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 1
  • Elected: January 2018
  • Term Expires: January 2027

Committees

  • Chair: Engineering and Operations
  • Member: Water Resources and Watershed

Boards

  • Vice President: Devil’s Den Water District
  • Member: Financing Corporation
  • Member: Upper Santa Clara Valley Joint Powers Authority
Maria Gutzeit - Vice President

Maria Gutzeit is currently board president for the Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency. She served as a board member of both Newhall County Water District and SCV Water from 2003-2020 and was instrumental in the formation of SCV Water.

Gutzeit is the owner and principal engineer at Compliance Plus. She has over 30 years’ experience in the environmental compliance arena. She began her career with Fortune 500 industry, including Amoco Oil, Waste Management of California, and Anheuser Busch. After serving as a site environmental engineer for three Southern California facilities, she founded Compliance Plus in 1995. The company serves industrial clients in Southern California and the western United States.

Ms. Gutzeit is active with the California Metals Coalition and is a past speaker at the California Certified Uniform Program Agency (CUPA) and Association of California Water Agencies annual conferences. She has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.

Gutzeit’s husband is also a small business owner in Santa Clarita. In their down time, the family attends swim and band events with their Hart School District child. Together with their three rescue dogs they enjoy camping year-round in the western US.

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 3
  • Elected: January 2023
  • Term Expires: January 2027

Committees

  • Chair: Public Outreach and Legislation
  • Member: Finance and Administration

Boards

  • Member: Finance Corporation
  • Member: Upper Santa Clara Valley Joint Powers Authority
Dirk S. Marks - Director

Dirk Marks’ career spanned 40 years as a Water Resources Engineer with experience in the private and public sectors.  In the private sector, he designed and oversaw construction of public water distribution systems. He worked at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for 21 years managing its State Water Project water supply contract. In 2008 he moved to the Santa Clarita Valley to take a position as Water Resources Manager at Castaic Lake Water Agency. In 2018 he became the Director of Water Resources at the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency and served there until his retirement. He has overseen preparation of the Valley’s Urban Water Management Plan and its Groundwater Sustainability Plan along with expanding SCV Water’s dry-year water supplies. 

Dirk graduated from California State University Long Beach with a degree in Civil Engineering.  He is a registered professional civil engineer in California and a life-time member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

Dirk and his wife Cindy raised their family in Santa Clarita and are long-time supporters of Family Promise. 

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 2
  • Elected: January 2023
  • Term Expires: January 2027

Committees

  • Member: Water Resources and Watershed
Gary R. Martin - President

Gary Martin is a civil engineering professional and a former water system engineering manager with an extensive background in design, construction, and operation of public water conveyance and groundwater recharge systems in Southern California.

In addition to serving on the SCV Water Board of Directors, Mr. Martin is currently a member of the Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency Board of Directors, the Urban Water Institute Board of Directors, and the Association of California Water Agencies Joint Powers Insurance Authority (ACWA JPIA) Board of Directors. Mr. Martin also serves on the ACWA Groundwater Committee and the California Special Districts Association Professional Development and Membership Services committees. Mr. Martin was Vice President of the Castaic Lake Water Agency (CLWA) Board of Directors in 2017.

Prior to his current board position, Mr. Martin held the position of Director of Engineering at the Mojave Water Agency, a California State Water Project Contractor covering a service area of 4,900 square miles in the high desert of San Bernardino County. During his 19+ years at the MWA, Mr. Martin was responsible for the design and construction of over $150 million in water system capital improvement projects, including pipelines, reservoirs, booster pump stations, wells and groundwater recharge facilities.

Prior to his employment at MWA, Mr. Martin had a 24-year career in the private engineering and construction industry working on heavy industrial and water conveying projects. Twenty of those years were spent with the Bechtel Corporation where he ultimately reached the level of Chief Civil/Structural Engineer for the Los Angeles Regional Office.

Mr. Martin earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science Degree in Structural Engineering from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He is a registered professional civil and structural engineer in California, and is a Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Mr. Martin has resided in Valencia with his wife Phyllis since 1978 and they have two children and four grandchildren.

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 1
  • Elected: January 2018
  • Term Expires: January 2025

Committees

  • Member: Engineering and Operations
  • Member: Water Resources and Watershed

Boards

  • Member: Financing Corporation
  • Member: Upper Santa Clara Valley Joint Powers Authority 
Piotr Orzechowski - Vice President

Piotr Orzechowski is an Environmental Water Programs Manager for Holland America Group (serving Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, and P&O Australia). He makes sure that water treatment and discharge standards are being adhered to and that the vessels have the necessary policies, procedures, and information to be in full compliance with all applicable laws.

Piotr started his career at Princess Cruises working for the Fuel & Ship Stability Team. He evaluated fuel consumption to support Business Case Analysis and Post-Investment Appraisal of shipboard fuel/energy-saving projects. He provided project management support for hydrodynamic improvement methods/systems/equipment. He actively researched new technologies/methods to reduce SOx, NOx, and PM from ship’s exhaust gases. He developed and wrote software that determines the number of tug boats needed for departure. He created/updated: Damage Control Booklets, Emergency Towing Booklets, and Damage Control Plans. One of his biggest accomplishments at Princess Cruises was designing, managing, and supervising installations of Panama-specific mooring equipment on Caribbean Princess and Emerald Princess. These ships are now able to complete full transits through the New Panama Canal Locks. This capability opened up a new stream of revenue for the company.

Piotr began his technical career while still in High School. At an Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory at Old Dominion University in Virginia, he took part in a US-Customs funded research project in gas chromatography, developing and optimizing a miniaturized instrument for conversion of micro-amounts of cocaine into a volatile more detectable material. After High School, he served San Fernando Valley as an EMT for a community-based ambulance company. He studied gene regulatory changes associated with Glucocorticosteroid hormone evoked apoptosis in human Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia cells in Northridge. He performed EPA-approved industrial soil/water analysis in Sylmar. He worked as a Technical Editor for the Radiochemistry Department at Eckert & Ziegler Isotope Products in Burbank. He assisted in maintenance repairs of biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant equipment for Facility Services at Genentech in Vacaville. He also served as a Planner & Engineer at Mare Island Shipyard where he assisted in restoring a WWII Navy vessel that is now on display at Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

Piotr holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with Minors in Biology and Business Administration. He has an extensive background in Analytical Chemistry, Biotechnology, and Fluid Mechanics. He is an Associate Member of the Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers.

Piotr and his wife Chelsea reside in Saugus and are active in supporting local non-profit organizations in Santa Clarita. Piotr currently serves as a Safety Officer on the Landscape Committee of the Friends of Castaic Lake. In 2019, he was honored to be Junior Chamber International and Santa Clarita Magazine’s recipient of the SCV 40 Under Forty Award.

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 2
  • Elected: January 2021
  • Term Expires: January 2025

Committees

  • Chair: Water Resources and Watershed
  • Member: Engineering and Operations

Boards

  • Vice President: Financing Corporation
  • Member: Upper Santa Clara Valley Joint Powers Authority
Kenneth J. Petersen, P.E. - Director

Kenneth J. Petersen’s residential address is in Castaic, California. His current profession is consulting Civil Engineer. Previously he held the position of General Manager of the Valencia Water Company until the Company was dissolved into the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency in 2017.

He graduated from the California State University, Long Beach in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering. Also, he holds a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from California State University, Long Beach and he is a registered Professional Engineer in Civil Engineering in the State of California.

His career has spanned a broad range of management, engineering, and construction activities. He has been a General Manager for a California Regulated Water Utility, two California Water Districts, a Joint Powers Agency, and Engineering and Operations Manager for the Castaic Lake Water Agency from 2004 to 2007. He has provided managerial leadership in public water agency operations and maintenance programs, capital asset programs, design, and construction projects ensuring compliance with environmental requirements, established standards, specifications, and public policy. During his career, he held Board of Director positions related to the Santa Maria groundwater adjudication, Los Osos Groundwater litigation and Ojai Groundwater Management Agency. In Orange County he served as a Board of Director on the South Orange County Wastewater Authority.

At Valencia Water Company, his responsibilities included the managerial oversight of a Water Company that provided water service to 31,000 connections in the communities of Newhall, Saugus, Valencia, Stevenson Ranch and Castaic in Northern Los Angeles County. The position was responsible for the oversight of customer service, community relations, utility business development, water systems operations and maintenance, development of operations and maintenance budgets and long-term planning for the Company.

SCV Water Board

  • Division: 3
  • Appointed: September 2022
  • Term Expires: January 2025

Committees

  • Chair: Finance and Administration
  • Member: Engineering and Operations

Contact a Board Member


Board Policies and Procedures

 

Board-Required Trainings and Filings

 

Election Process and Division Map

Election Process

As of 2022, the SCV Water Board has nine directly elected directors. Instead of at-large or appointed seats, each director must live in one of three electoral divisions and will be directly elected by the people within that electoral division. This is called divisional representation. It is strictly compliant with the California Voting Rights Act and allows neighbors to elect neighbors to govern water resources. It also ensures equal representation for all corners of the Valley. 

  • Elections for the SCV Water office of Director is conducted on the date of the General Election, the first Tuesday of November of each even-numbered year.
  • The link for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder County Clerk is http://lavote.net/?vm=r
  • Elections for the Devil’s Den Water District office of Director is conducted on the date of the General Election, the first Tuesday of November of each odd-numbered year.
  • The link for the Kern County Auditor-Controller-County Clerk is http://www.co.kern.ca.us/auditor/?vm=r
  • The term of office for all elected Directors is four years.

Electoral Divisions Map