Eileen Sobeck is the new executive director of State Water Resources Control Board, replacing Tom Howard, effective September 5th.

After reviewing a wealth of qualified applicants, the State Water Board selected Sobeck due to her substantial managerial and environmental experience. She has nearly 40 years of government service, and more than a decade of executive and management experience leading professional staff in complex organizations.

Sobeck will be new to state government, but has spent her 40-year career in federal agencies that touch on many of the same public resource challenges the State Water Board faces. Sobeck is a lawyer by training and spent 25 years at the U.S. Department of Justice, ultimately serving as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources (1999-2009).