Eileen Sobeck, the executive director of the State Water Resources Control Board, will retire at the end of the year.
Sobeck has led the board since 2017, preferring a hands-off approach compared to other agency leaders. In hearings she shied away from the spotlight and propped up her chief deputy directors and branch heads, fielding questions as needed.
Yet Sobeck was instrumental behind the scenes. She defended board actions during an investigation by the state auditor’s office over controversial water releases in 2021, blaming inadequate drought planning across agencies. She argued “the board felt that it did the best that it could” to protect salmon that year. Sobeck also steered the board through turbulent waters during the Trump administration, when battles escalated between the state and federal administrations over biological opinions for Delta fish, wetland protections and dam certifications.
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The board introduced a slew of new regulatory programs under her tenure, from CV-SALTS to a robust drinking water program and a structurally imbalanced cannabis program. She retires as the board readies an update to its Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, incorporating a set of divisive voluntary agreements that have already led to the resignation of one board member.
Sobeck was previously assistant administrator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and had roles at the Interior Department and U.S. Department of Justice.
The board is recruiting for a new executive officer to oversee its 2,700 staff.
