Oakland, January 21, 2020
EBMUD General Manager to Retire
After 27 years of service and 9 years as General Manager, Alexander R. Coate has announce he is retiring from EBMUD in 2020.
OAKLAND - East Bay Municipal Utility District General Manager Alexander R. Coate is retiring from the organization after 27 years, including nine years as general manager. During his tenure as general manager, Coate led the water and wastewater utility through California’s longest recorded drought, a large-scale workforce recruitment effort during the economic rebound and a corresponding agency-wide push to invest in infrastructure and quadruple miles of pipeline replaced.
Coate began his career at EBMUD in 1993 as an associate engineer in the Office of Wastewater Reclamation. He subsequently managed the offices of Environmental Compliance, Regulatory Compliance and the Water Supply Improvements Division. In 2007, he became Director of Water and Natural Resources, and in 2011 he was appointed General Manager.
Coate has a Bachelor’s Degree in Neurobiology and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He also is a licensed California Professional Engineer and worked for 10 years in related fields prior to joining EBMUD.
Before becoming general manager, Coate managed EBMUD’s billion-dollar Freeport Regional Water Project. The joint effort with Sacramento County proved invaluable during the last year of the recent drought, conveying one-third of EBMUD’s water supplies to the East Bay.
Board President Marguerite Young expressed appreciation for Coate’s contributions to EBMUD, saying, “Alex’s commitment to the betterment of this organization has been tremendous. Under his leadership, EBMUD took many significant strides toward a more reliable, efficient and sustainable future. Notably, Alex championed the effort to increase EBMUD’s pipeline replacement rate of our aging distribution infrastructure and a new raw water line that helped keep the East Bay in water through the most recent drought. He also fostered partnerships that lead to the State of California’s designation of the Mokelumne River as a Wild and Scenic River. That designation protects our primary water source and the surrounding lands indefinitely, ensuring EBMUD’s water will always be of the highest quality.”
In announcing his retirement, Coate said the timing is right for several reasons: EBMUD has in place a strong Board of Directors and Senior Management Team; a reliable water supply portfolio and sufficient supplies for the future; exceptional financial standing including a recent credit upgrade; and very capable staff well-positioned to take on the challenges of the future.
The EBMUD Board of Directors will begin recruitment for a new General Manager on January 21, 2020, with the job announcement posted at www.ebmud.com/jobs. Coate will remain on board through the transition, which is expected to take several months.