As general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Adel Hagekhalil has overseen a public agency that’s responsible for supplying the water that 19 million people drink. And he has been playing a leading role in efforts to transform how Southern California manages water, one of the most consequential issues the region faces as climate change continues to upend the water cycle. His influence in this critical sphere currently hangs in the balance.
' He promotes the concept of “One Water,” which refers to developing holistic solutions with community involvement by viewing all sources — potable water, stormwater, wastewater — as part of one system. Hagekhalil’s views about the value of water were shaped by his youth in Lebanon, where his Palestinian family lived through violence and hardships during the country’s 15-year civil war.