Service area & board of directors

Re-elected in 2018, Dina Nguyen was first elected to serve on the Orange County Water District Board of Directors in November 2014 to represent division 1, which includes Garden Grove, Westminster and Stanton. Director Nguyen was formerly a councilmember for the city of Garden Grove.

She was elected to the Garden Grove City Council in November 2006, then re-elected in 2010. She began her political career as a commissioner on the Garden Grove Neighborhood Improvement and Conservation Commission where she recommended programs to the City Council to improve and preserve neighborhoods through zoning enforcement, housing rehabilitation, street improvement, and other housing-related programs.

Director Nguyen served Orange County for 18 years as an employee of the Superior Court. During that time, she attended law school. Presently, she is the principal owner of the Business & Law Center of Dina L. Nguyen in Garden Grove.

Both her professional law practice and her activities in the community focus on the areas of education, family and business.

Over the years, Director Nguyen has lent her support to organizations that include the Rotary Club of Garden Grove, the Boy Scouts of America, the Sustainable Community Foundation of Orange, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the American Red Cross, the Team of Advocates for Special Kids, the NBH Youth and Cultural Development Center, and the Orange County Community Services Programs.

Director Nguyen came to the United States in 1975, has lived in Orange County since 1977 and presently resides in Garden Grove with her family. Email Director Nguyen

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Denis Bilodeau was first elected to public office as a director of the Orange County Water District in November 2000 and was re-elected to serve for five more consecutive terms. He served as president of the board from 2002 to 2004 and from 2017 to 2018, and as 1st vice president in 2015 and 2016.

Previously, Director Bilodeau served as a councilmember of the city of Orange. He was elected in November 2006 and his term ended in 2014. He has served on the following committees and commissions throughout Orange County: Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, Orange County Vector Control, Orange County Waste Management Commission, Orange County Transportation Authority, San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency, Foothill Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, Orange County Sanitation District, Orange County Emergency Medical Care Committee, Orange County Housing and Community Development Commission, Orange County Water Task Force, and the Los Angeles and San Gabriel River Watershed Taskforce.

Director Bilodeau, his wife Suzanne and their three children are long-time residents of Orange. Professionally, Director Bilodeau is a licensed civil and traffic engineer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Irvine.

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Roger Yoh was elected to serve on the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Board of Directors in November 2004, and was re-elected in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. He was elected to serve as the 2012 chair of the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) Steering Committee, and, most recently, as the 2013 and 2014 2nd vice president of the OCWD Board of Directors.

Director Yoh is a registered professional engineer, a project management professional and is currently employed with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), District 7 (Los Angeles and Ventura Counties), as a senior transportation engineer.

Director Yoh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Irvine, where he received extensive training in various disciplines of civil engineering, including water resources engineering and construction management.

Director Yoh is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Environmental & Water Resources Institute and the Project Management Institute. A resident of Orange County since 1982, Director Yoh and his wife, Stephanie, live in Buena Park with their daughter. Email Director Yoh

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Tri Ta was appointed to the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Board of Directors in 2018 and subsequently elected in 2020. He currently serves as the District’s 2nd vice president. Most recently he was elected to serve as the 2022 chair of the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) Steering Committee. Director Ta also serves as mayor for the city of Westminster, Calif.

Director Ta was elected in November 2016 to serve his third term as mayor. Tri Ta was first elected to the Westminster City Council in November 2006 and re-elected in 2010.  In 2008, he was selected to serve as mayor pro tempore. Director Ta became the first Vietnamese-American elected mayor in the United States with his victory in November 2012; he was re-elected as mayor in November 2014. 

Prior to being elected to the council, he served as a commissioner for the city's Energy Committee and Advisory Committee for the Disabled. Tri Ta currently represents Westminster on the Orange County Fire Authority Board of Directors serving on its Executive Committee and Budget and Finance Committee, the Orange County Council of Governments, the Orange County Public Library Advisory Board, and the Orange County Transportation Authority Central County Corridor MIS and I-405 Policy Working Group. He also serves as council representative to the city's Water Rate Structure Committee, Zoning Code Update Committee, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion Advisory Committee, and Energy Committee.

Director Ta was born in Saigon, Vietnam. He came to the United States with his family in 1992 at the age of 19. He then received a B.A. in political science and has completed the requirements for an M.A. in International Relations. Director Ta appreciates the opportunities given to him by the political process and democracy in the United States, leading him to begin working as a legislative representative in 1998.

From 1998 to 2006, Director Ta worked as a career consultant and then as an employment counselor. This enabled him to help numerous families from many ethnic groups become self-sufficient and less reliant on public assistance by developing better job searching skills, and/or adequate vocational training to obtain sustainable employment. He also helped with a variety of supportive services, including, but not limited to, transportation, childcare, housing, shelter, and ancillary.

Over the years, Director Ta had been active in many non-profit organizations, committees and projects, including the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations (UVSA), New Horizon, Orange History Program, National Alliance of Vietnamese American Service Agencies (NAVASA), Rancho Santiago Community College District's Measure Advisory Committee, Giving Back Program, Asian Pacific National Steering Committee, and Kiwanis International. He is frequently sought after by universities as an inspirational speaker whose ultimate message to the youth is "follow your dream 'til the end."

Director Ta resides in Westminster with his wife, Anh Doan, and their two daughters Trianh and Trimy. Email Director Ta

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Steve Sheldon is an elected member of the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Board of Directors; his division includes parts of Irvine, Newport Beach and Tustin. Director Sheldon is the District's president. He has served on the board since 2005 and was previously president of the board in 2008 and 2009. A representative on behalf of OCWD for the League of Cities, he also sits on the University of California, Irvine Urban Water Research Institute Advisory Committee.

Director Sheldon brings more than 25 years of experience in public policy and real estate development. As a past consultant and attorney, his work included managing hundreds of land-use entitlement efforts before cities, counties and special districts. He is currently the CEO of Sheldon Development, LLC.  His company has developed over 2,500 housing units ranging from luxury apartments, townhomes, single-family homes, and estate lots; along with park land, open space, trails, and other public amenities and benefits. He was a recent successful bidder of a surplus elementary school site from a public school district and developed 63 homes and a two acre public park. Email Director Sheldon

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Cathy Green was elected to the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Board of Directors in November 2010 and was re-elected in 2012, 2016 and 2020. She was selected by the board to serve as its 2015 and 2016 president. She currently serves as 1st vice president, a position she previously held in 2013, 2014 and 2020.

Prior to Director Green's service on OCWD's board, she was elected to two consecutive terms on the Huntington Beach City Council where she served two terms as mayor. Director Green has been involved as a council liaison and committee member on many city boards, commissions and committees. She served on the Orange County Transportation Authority Board and was a director of OC Clean Tech.

In December of 2021, Director Green was elected Vice President of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) for a two-year term. She has served as an active member of ACWA since 2012, including serving on ACWA's Executive Committee since 2020, the ACWA Board since 2016, and the Region 10 Board since 2012. She held the position of ACWA Region 10 Chair from 2018-2019 and served as Vice Chair since 2020, and previously from 2016-2017. Director Green has also served on several ACWA Committees including the Water Quality Committee since 2012, the Energy Committee since 2019, and the State Legislative Committee from 2012-2015.

Director Green serves on the boards of the Huntington Valley Boys and Girls Club and the Orange County Explorer Program; serves on the Huntington Beach City School District Medi-Cal Collaborative; is a director of the Prime Health Foundation and the Huntington Beach Hospital; is a member of the American Legion Unit 133 Auxiliary, Huntington Beach Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the Elks Lodge 1959; and is on the Advisory Board of the Bolsa Chica Conservancy. She is a founding member of Amigos de Bolsa Chica.

In addition, her community involvement has included serving as president of the Therapeutic Riding Center and the Huntington Beach Community Clinic, chair of the Orange County Emergency Medical Care Committee and of Explorer’s/Learning for Life, first aid chair of Huntington Beach CERT, and board member of the OC Boy Scouts of America Council and American Family Housing.

Director Green is the recipient of many awards. Her most recent is a 2020 Boys and Girls Clubs of America National Service to Youth Award. In 2010, she was the recipient of the Spurgeon Award, and, in 2005, she was named Woman of the Year by then State Senator John Campbell. Other awards include the 2006 United Way Excellence in Child Care Planning, the 2007 Peace Maker Award from the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council and the Golden West College Pillar of Achievement Award. She has also been recognized as Huntington Beach’s Citizen of the Year by the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, a Huntington Beach Soroptimist’s Woman of Distinction and a Bolsa Chica Conservancy Conservator of the Year.

Director Green is a registered nurse and holds a degree in law. As a nurse, Director Green worked in the health care areas of intensive care, student health, community health, and patient advocacy. In addition to nursing, she gained experience with a variety of environmental projects while associated with Lockhart and Associates.

Director Green resides in Huntington Beach.

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Kelly Rowe was re-elected to the Orange County Water District Board of Directors in 2018, representing division 7, which includes Costa Mesa, and parts of Fountain Valley, Irvine, Newport Beach, and Tustin. Director Rowe returned to OCWD after an 18-year hiatus; he previously served on the board from 1998 to 2000. In 1985, he worked at OCWD as a technical consultant addressing the groundwater conditions of the Irvine Subbasin area, and from 1996 to 1998, he oversaw major repairs to OCWD’s coastal seawater intrusion barrier injection wells (Talbert Gap Barrier). These injection wells are the oldest part of OCWD's Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS).

Director Rowe is a water resources technical professional with more than 40 years of experience specializing in the design, construction and management of groundwater wells and basin operational facilities. He is a California-licensed Professional Geologist, Certified Engineering Geologist and Certified Hydrogeologist and was a long-term Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) Certified Floodplain Manager.

Since 1977, he has worked as a senior hydrogeologist/engineering geologist for several large engineering and environmental consulting firms in Southern California. In 1996, he started a consulting company, Kelly E. Rowe & Associates, that specializes in water resources and environmental management programs and projects. Over the last 18 years, Director Rowe worked mainly as a contracted consultant-appointed official for the federal government, to develop and resolve grants for water resources facilities overseas for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and for seven states through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to restore public infrastructure damaged by 16 federally-declared major disasters, including California fires and floods. This involved working with many operational and environmental federal, state, regional, and local government officials to restore their facilities. Director Rowe also served in the FEMA roles as environmental specialist and floodplain specialist to ensure federal funds were used for projects in compliance with NEPA.

Director Rowe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from San Diego State University, with additional geology graduate studies. He is the founder and president of American Water Resources Association, Southern California Section. He was a long-term member of the American Geophysical Union and Association of Engineering Geologists. Director Rowe is a continuing member of the American Water Resources Association. In 2020, he was appointed commissioner to represent OCWD on the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority.

As a high school junior, Director Rowe participated in the first Earth Day program in 1970 and presented on the impacts of air pollution in the Cleveland, Ohio area. After high school he moved to San Diego to attend UC San Diego and become a marine geologist. He subsequently studied at San Diego State University to become a hydrogeologist.

Director Rowe resides in Costa Mesa.

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Nelida “Nelly” Mendoza was appointed by the Santa Ana City Council in December 2020 to represent the Orange County Water District’s Division 8 (Santa Ana) as a board member.

Director Mendoza currently serves on the Santa Ana City Council. She previously served as trustee on the Rancho Santiago Community College District as president, vice president and clerk. 

Director Mendoza served our country as a sergeant in US Army Signal Corps and upon her honorable discharge immediately enrolled at Santa Ana College wherein she earned an A.A. in liberal arts, an A.A. in paralegal studies, and an A.A. in office technology. In pursuit of higher education, she enrolled at California State University, Fullerton and holds a B.A. in sociology and a Master's in public administration. Director Mendoza also earned a Teacher's Credential from the Orange County Department of Education. 

Director Mendoza’s extensive community involvement includes lifetime membership and appointment by President Barack Obama to serve on the Selective Service Board. She was the first female commander and current public relations officer for the United Mexican American Veterans Association, American GI Forum, Rudy Escalante Chapter, American Legion Post 132, American Veterans United, MANA de Orange County, Women in Leadership, and first president of Toastmasters International Local Chapter Tools2Lead. She also served as a member at large for the city of Santa Ana in the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Committee, chairperson of the Community Redevelopment and Housing Commission. Director Mendoza was also the community outreach chairperson for the Orange County Paralegal Association, and secretary of the West End Community Oriented Policing Board.

In April 2014, Director Mendoza was celebrated as one of Assemblymember Tom Daly's Women of the Year recipients. The award honors her efforts and inspiration in community involvement in areas such as public safety, veteran issues and higher education.

Director Mendoza was born in Jalisco, Mexico, the fifth child of a family of 10. Her family immigrated to the United States in the mid-1960s to seek a better life and educational opportunities. She has been a resident of Santa Ana since then.

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Gloria Ma’ae was appointed by the Anaheim City Council in June 2022 to represent Orange County Water District Division 9 (Anaheim). Appointed to the Anaheim City Council in September 2021, her priorities include neighborhood revitalization, addressing homelessness, public safety, and business growth.

Director Ma’ae has a long history of community involvement that includes serving on the Anaheim Community Services Board, North Anaheim Neighborhood Council, Anaheim Charter Review Commission, Anaheim Citizens Advisory Committee on Elections, and participating in the Anaheim Police Department’s PACE program. Her passion for neighborhood improvement began in her own neighborhood by organizing community events and cleanups.

Director Ma’ae is a 42-year resident of west Anaheim, where she and her husband raised their family.

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Bruce Whitaker was appointed by the Fullerton City Council in January 2021 to represent the Orange County Water District’s (OCWD) Division 10 as a board member. He previously served on the OCWD Board from August 2012 to January 2014 and February 2017 to February 2019.

Director Whitaker serves as mayor pro tem of the City of Fullerton and was first elected to the City Council in November 2010 where he served a two-year term. He was re-elected to four-year terms on the Council in November 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Director Whitaker previously served as commissioner of the Santa Ana River Watershed Project Authority and was on the board of the Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency and the Orange County Vector Control District.

Director Whitaker is a longtime public servant and resident of Fullerton. He previously served as a board member on the County of Orange Oversight Board and was a planning commissioner for the city of Fullerton. He has also held positions in state and local government.

Director Whitaker is an active member of the Fullerton community where he founded the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers. He also serves as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, Fullerton Cares, Women’s Transitional Living Center, Crime Survivors, Inc. Resource Center, and One Legacy/Donate Life, among others.

Director Whitaker and his wife, Linda, reside in Fullerton.

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