Dan Masnada

[KHTS] – About five months have passed since Dan Masnada announced his plans to retire from his position as general manager at the Castaic Lake Water Agency, and the board is “on the home stretch” in filling the position, he said.

While Masnada confirmed the agency has selected his successor, the identity of that person will not be announced until negotiations are completed by or before the end of the year.

After the announcement is made, Masnada will begin the transition of stepping out of his role as general manager and plans to work on special projects for the agency– as well as take accrued vacation time he has been unable to thus far –until his retirement becomes official in late September or early October 2016.

“They haven’t nailed a date down,” he said. “My number one priority is to make the transition as smooth as possible, regardless of how long that takes.”

As far as accomplishing any additional goals for the agency in the meantime, Masnada said his main focus is to keep the momentum up in terms of ongoing projects until his successor can step in.

“My goal is to maintain the momentum and make the transition as smooth as possible, so then that individual will not only be able to just pick up the ball and run with it, but as water continues to get more and more complex, that individual can take the agency to the next level in meeting those challenges.”

With El Nino already starting to make its appearance in Santa Clarita, Masnada is overseeing preparations for potential flooding around the facility, and has hope that predicted rainfall can have some positive impacts in Santa Clarita.

“If the above-average precipitation materializes then it will take some pressure off us as water suppliers, and state water allocation will be increased and local groundwater will be recharged,” he said.

Despite the potential for these positive effects, Masnada emphasized that one season of El Nino will not end the drought, and it would take three to four years of above-average precipitation to fully restore current water supply deficiencies.

In addition to his impactful contributions to the agency throughout the historic drought– including leading the development of a diverse array of water management programs and supply sources to help the community withstand water supply fluctuations –Masnada also led the CLWA through the expansion of both of its water treatment plants, the diversification of the SCV’s water supply portfolio and much more.

“While I’m proud of all of the projects and programs that we’ve brought on in the time that I’ve been here,” Masnada said, “I would say the thing that I’m really the proudest of is (adding) to an organization, identifying the positions and filling those positions that are at a staff level that allow us to really get the job done. Because without staff, we don’t accomplish anything.”
One thing Masnada is looking forward to about his retirement is the opportunity to travel with his wife and do some of the things he simply hasn’t had the time for throughout his busy career, like spend his winters skiing.

“Although I do have mixed emotions about stepping down, I believe the time is right,” he said. “However, my heart will always be with the agency and I’ll stay involved at least spiritually, if not physically. I don’t intend to leave the valley, so whatever contributions I can still make as a retired individual, I would be committed to doing just that.”