Nov 7, 2018   SOURCE: BusinessWire

New Director Representing City of San Fernando Joins Metropolitan Board of Directors

San Fernando Public Works Director Yazdan “Yaz” Emrani was sworn in today as the city’s representative on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

He succeeds San Fernando Mayor Sylvia Ballin, who served on the 38-member board since September 2007. Emrani will serve on Metropolitan’s Communications and Legislation Committee; Organization, Personnel and Technology Committee; Facilities Naming Ad Hoc Committee; and Audit and Ethics Committee.

Emrani, who also is San Fernando’s city engineer, brings 30 years of experience in civil and environmental engineering, including planning, design and construction management of infrastructure improvement projects in both the public and private sectors.

He began his career as a design engineer for consulting engineering firm KCI Technologies in Maryland and later moved to Orange County, where he co-founded his engineering consulting practice Advanced Infrastructure Management in 2002. He has taught engineering classes at the University of California, Irvine and served on the advisory board for the UCI Dean of Engineering.

Emrani also has been involved with wastewater collection system planning and design and has worked closely with the State Water Resources Control Board in conducting educational seminars for cities and public agencies. He also represents the city of San Fernando on the Upper Los Angeles River Steering Committee and was recently elected vice chair of the committee. In this position, he serves as a liaison to the Greater Los Angeles County Integrated Regional Water Management Leadership Council, which provides guidance to address the water resources needs of the region.

An advocate for investment in public infrastructure, Emrani is active in the American Society of Civil Engineers and helped develop the infrastructure report card for California.

Emrani earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in civil engineering from University of Maryland at College Park. In addition to ASCE, he is active and has held leadership positions with the American Public Works Association, California Water Environment Association and the Water Environment Federation.

Born in Iran and raised in upstate New York, Emrani and his wife, Bahareh, live in Orange County and have two children.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail suppliers, serves nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

Note to editors: A digital photo of Director Emrani is available upon request.