Municipal Water District of Orange County or MAGA Water District? That is the question
Are SoCal water agencies, including Metropolitan of Southern California, quietly floating with the tide of MAGA-fascism when we're not watching them?
The Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) has seven elected members on its board of directors, three of whom it has appointed to sit on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD)—which has 38 appointed, not elected, members. A fourth MWDOC appointee to the MWD board, Linda Ackerman, is not a member of the MWDOC board but regularly sits with its members at meetings.
MWD supplies water for 19 million SoCal residents in six counties, including MWDOC. MWDOC sells MWD’s imported water, which comes from Northern California (through the State Water Project) and the Colorado River, to its 27 Orange County member agencies serving 3.5 million residents.
What do our water districts stand for in terms of water management philosophy and policies, including ethics, transparency and politics?
It’s a fair question, and answering it honestly requires water‑board officials to drop the pretense that political partisanship somehow stops at the edge of their dais. A good place to watch that illusion fall apart is at one of their semi‑private, corporate‑sponsored water‑buffalo forums—events the general public rarely hears about.
A few notes about these gatherings. They’re always held in the ballroom of an upscale hotel. Before dinner, you can buy a drink at the bar just outside the doors, giving you a chance to mingle with the Who’s Who of Southern California water buffalos and maybe overhear a few interesting conversations not meant for public ears.
But it will cost you.
Dinner typically runs about $150—$160 if you’re not a member of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA, but that’s another great story). For that price, you get a nicely plated serving of high‑end airline food, a slice of cheesecake for dessert, and an endless supply of State Water Project water at no extra charge—unless you count the $150 infrastructure fee you already paid.
Seating, much like voting power on the MWD Board of Directors, is determined by wealth. The biggest players buy entire tables positioned closest to the stage, where the evening’s honored guests will speak. A table for eight goes for roughly $1,350.
This is more or less what you can expect at the upcoming Municipal Water District of Orange County Water Policy Forum and Dinner 2026 at the Westin Hotel in Costa Mesa, where MWD’s newest general manager, Shivaji Deshmukh, will be the guest of honor.
It’s not an event designed for people struggling to pay their water or sewer bills, and your absence will go entirely unnoticed. Few people do, but you can watch a recording on YouTube days or weeks later from the comfort of your home, though it’s far less revealing than sharing cheesecake with the people who raise your rates every year.
ICE’s Deputy Secretary’s welcome by MWDOC and MWD
I’d had more than enough cheesecake at these events over the years as a comped journalist and member America’s bottom one-percent, so I skipped the chance on June 26, 2025, to watch Troy Edgar, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, take the stage as the honored guest at MWDOC’s Water Policy Forum and Dinner.
Besides, I probably would’ve been arrested before I ever made it to dessert. Full disclosure—SURPRISE :)—I’m no fan of DHS or ICE, especially in their current Trump 2.0 incarnation. And if you’re wondering why, just look at the now‑infamous video of the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent on a Minneapolis street on January 7, 2025.
That horrific event occurred only days ago, more than six months after MWDOC’s celebration of Edgar and DHS. But the agency’s racist, brutal, and indiscriminate attacks on immigrants—and on U.S. citizens who were either people of color or who protested those tactics—had been underway almost from the moment Donald Trump was sworn in as America’s 47th president on January 20, 2025, marking the start of what he called the Golden Age of America.
But I did watch MWDOC’s event honoring Edgar—and the agency that had already spent six months perpetrating a reign of terror against immigrants and others in cities across America—on YouTube. The video is posted below.
I had long considered asking MWDOC board president Larry Dick—who hosted the forum honoring Edgar and frequently emcees district events—along with MWDOC director Bob McVicker (until recently the board president) and MWD board chair Adán Ortega, about the glaring contradiction between MWD’s stated goals and the partners it chooses to elevate.
On one hand, MWD promotes climate‑change adaptation, long‑term water sustainability, equitable policies, and workplace D.E.I. On the other, the Department of Homeland Security under President Trump openly embraces climate denialism, is developing a secretive and unaccountable police force marked by brutality and racial targeting, and is working to eliminate D.E.I. across both government and the private sector. The disconnect is hard to ignore.
Finally, my horror over the murder of Renee Good pushed me to act. On January 9, I sent separate but nearly identical media inquiries to Dick, McVicker, and Ortega. A few hours later, Ortega replied by email, directing me to call the MWD press office “with any inquiries to inform your editorial.”
I followed up with an email to the press office instead—as I usually do—but received no response. McVicker and Dick didn’t respond either, even though I also texted Dick. I tried again with all three on January 12 and still haven’t heard back.
The most recent inquiries—essentially the same, but with an added question for Dick about his use of the phrase “our current national security priority”—are posted below. They outline the issues in more detail.
Note: neither of the emailed media inquiries contained photos or screenshots. I have added them for context.
I ask readers to decide if the public deserves answers or not. You can leave your vote in the poll at the end of this article.
Media Inquiry (to Adán Ortega):
On June 26, the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) held its corporate‑sponsored Water Policy Forum & Dinner in Costa Mesa. The honored keynote speaker was Troy Edgar, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security—the agency responsible for ICE, FEMA, and other national‑security and disaster‑response functions. By that date, the DHS/Trump administration’s anti‑immigrant policies, its hostility toward D.E.I., its politicization of federal funding, its cuts to FEMA, its removal of climate‑change planning from federal policy, and its increasingly aggressive, brutal and legally questionable ICE enforcement practices were all well documented. DHS had also launched a recruitment campaign (July 2025) using imagery and slogans widely criticized as racist and authoritarian (or Neo-fascist). These policies have continued, most recently underscored by the killing of a Minneapolis resident by an ICE agent.
At the MWDOC event, facilitator Larry Dick, representing MWDOC, offered the following introduction for Deputy Secretary Edgar, setting the tone for the evening:
Larry Dick: Tonight as I mentioned, we are beyond delighted to welcome one of the most distinguished and influential speakers ever to join us at a water policy dinner. His presence here, given our current national security priority, is a powerful statement of his dedication to public service and to this region. When we ask Brett if he would make the ask for us, he didn’t take him long to say yes, and we appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. True. Troy Edgar serves as a deputy secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, where he helps oversee critical operations and strategy impacting cybersecurity, emergency response, border security, and, importantly, National infrastructure, including water resilience. But before his federal service, he built his leadership foundation right here in the county. As a city council member and mayor for the City of Los Alamitos. He also served on the Orange County Sand District Board, where he rose to the position of chair, helping to guide essential infrastructure projects for the region. He’s a proud Navy veteran, a former CFO for DHS, and an executive with both public and private sector expertise. Speaking for myself, I’m delighted to see people in government that have signed the front and the back of a check. Troy’s career reflects a rare combination of local accountability and global impact. We’re so grateful to have him with us tonight, especially given these current events and the responsibilities that rest on his shoulders. Please join me in giving a warm Orange County welcome to our keynote speaker, Deputy secretary Troy Edgar.
Following the event, Metropolitan Water District Chairman Adán Ortega, reported that he attended the dinner and that Deputy Secretary Edgar:
“provided insights into the new administration’s policies and their implications for California’s future. Discussions included recent federal initiatives aimed at enhancing water infrastructure, ensuring sustainability, and addressing the unique challenges faced by our region.”
Despite these statements, none of the contradictions between DHS policy and MWD’s self-declared climate‑action and DEI commitments were acknowledged or addressed. Nor was there any mention of the escalating brutality directed at immigrant communities—communities that make up a substantial portion of the population served by MWD and MWDOC.
Question for Agency Leadership
How should Southern California ratepayers as a whole interpret such unqualified praise by the managers of its precious water supplies for the work of a federal agency, including its assistant secretary, that is demonstrably opposed to their own best interests--as officially described in MWD’s heralded Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water (CAMP4W), including its declared commitment to equity?
This mandate upon MWD to overcome bigotry and bias includes its commitment to the state-mandated reform of its D.E.I. workplace policies.
A response is requested as soon as possible.
Thank you,
John Earl
Media Inquiry to Bob McVicker and Larry Dick
Sent to MWDOC
On June 26, the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) held its corporate‑sponsored Water Policy Forum & Dinner in Costa Mesa. The honored keynote speaker was Troy Edgar, Deputy Secretary of the Department of homeland Security—the agency responsible for ICE, FEMA, and other national‑security and disaster‑response functions. By that date, the DHS/Trump administration’s anti‑immigrant policies, its hostility toward D.E.I., its politicization of federal funding, its cuts to FEMA, its removal of climate‑change planning from federal policy, and its increasingly aggressive, brutal and legally questionable ICE enforcement practices were all well documented. DHS had also launched a recruitment campaign (July 2025) using imagery and slogans widely criticized as racist and authoritarian (or Neo-fascist). These policies have continued, most recently underscored by the killing of a Minneapolis resident by an ICE agent.
At the MWDOC event, facilitator Larry Dick, representing MWDOC, offered the following introduction for Deputy Secretary Edgar, setting the tone for the evening:
Tonight as I mentioned, we are beyond delighted to welcome one of the most distinguished and influential speakers ever to join us at a water policy dinner. His presence here, given our current national security priority, is a powerful statement of his dedication to public service and to this region. When we ask Brett if he would make the ask for us, he didn’t take him long to say yes, and we appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. True. Troy Edgar serves as a deputy secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, where he helps oversee critical operations and strategy impacting cybersecurity, emergency response, border security, and, importantly, National infrastructure, including water resilience. But before his federal service, he built his leadership foundation right here in the county. As a city council member and mayor for the City of Los Alamitos. He also served on the Orange County Sand District Board, where he rose to the position of chair, helping to guide essential infrastructure projects for the region. He’s a proud Navy veteran, a former CFO for DHS, and an executive with both public and private sector expertise. Speaking for myself, I’m delighted to see people in government that have signed the front and the back of a check. Troy’s career reflects a rare combination of local accountability and global impact. We’re so grateful to have him with us tonight, especially given these current events and the responsibilities that rest on his shoulders. Please join me in giving a warm Orange County welcome to our keynote speaker, Deputy secretary Troy Edgar.
Following the event, Metropolitan Water District Chairman Adán Ortega, reported that he attended the dinner and that Deputy Secretary Edgar:
“provided insights into the new administration’s policies and their implications for California’s future. Discussions included recent federal initiatives aimed at enhancing water infrastructure, ensuring sustainability, and addressing the unique challenges faced by our region.”
Despite these statements, none of the contradictions between DHS policy and MWD’s self-declared climate‑action and DEI commitments were acknowledged or addressed. Nor was there any mention of the escalating brutality directed at immigrant communities—communities that make up a substantial portion of the population served by MWD and MWDOC.
Question for Agency Leadership
How should Southern California ratepayers as a whole interpret such unqualified praise by the managers of its precious water supplies for the work of a federal agency, including its assistant secretary, that is demonstrably opposed to their own best interests--as officially described in MWD’s heralded Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water (CAMP4W), including its declared commitment to equity?
This mandate upon MWD to overcome bigotry and bias includes its commitment to the state-mandated reform of its D.E.I. workplace policies.
Also, I have provided a complete transcript of Dir. Dick’s introduction to DHS Deputy Sec. Troy Edgar. Dir. Dick states, “His presence, given our current national security priority...”.
Question for Dir. Dick: at that time, June 26, 2025, what “current national security priority” were you referring to?
A response is requested as soon as possible.
Thank you,
John Earl
SoCal Water Wars
