General Manager

General Manager

San Patricio Municipal Water District (SPMWD)

Mackenzie Eason & Associates has been retained by the San Patricio Municipal Water District (SPMWD) to recruit its next General Manager. The current General Manager, who has guided the District for the past thirteen years, will retire in 2026, marking a significant leadership transition for one of the Gulf Coast’s most critical regional water providers.

Reporting directly to the Board of Directors, the next General Manager will guide a team of 37 employees through a period of major capital investment and long‑range resource planning. With a 2025 budget exceeding $42 million, three treatment plants producing in excess of 20 million gallons per day, and water sales split roughly 50/50 between municipal and industrial customers, the District operates at the intersection of community life and industrial growth along the Gulf Coast.

The next General Manager will lead a sophisticated, technically skilled organization at a pivotal time, balancing infrastructure renewal, water supply reliability, and long‑term planning amid the challenges of growth, industrial demand, and water scarcity.

Established in 1951 by the Texas Legislature, the San Patricio Municipal Water District supplies treated and raw water to municipalities and industries across the Coastal Bend region north of Corpus Christi Bay. Today, SPMWD serves both municipal customers—such as Portland, Aransas Pass, Ingleside, and Rockport, and major industrial users along the La Quinta Ship Channel. The District’s role is central to sustaining community growth and fueling one of the state’s most dynamic industrial corridors, home to refineries, petrochemical facilities, and port operations vital to Texas’ economy.

The District’s mission is simple yet vital: to deliver reliable, high-quality water that sustains both local communities and world‑scale industries.

The District is at an inflection point. The Board seeks an experienced and visionary General Manager to guide the organization through an era of strategic renewal. Over the next decade, the District will undertake one of the most significant infrastructure projects in its history, replacement of its original 1960s‑era water transmission line, while simultaneously developing contingency plans to safeguard regional supply through future droughts.

This leader will be responsible for aligning capital, engineering, and operational strategies with the Board’s long‑term vision for reliability, sustainability, and financial stewardship.

In the coming decade, SPMWD will:

• Replace its original 1960s‑era transmission pipeline from the Nueces River and Corpus Christi system—a project that will require multiyear financing and strong coordination with industrial and municipal partners.
• Address short‑and medium‑term growth needs, while looking at long‑term expansion of supply resilience through the potential development of a 40 MGD desalination plant.
• Continue building drought contingency measures as the region faces the most challenging hydrologic conditions in decades.

This is a rare opportunity for a water‑sector executive or senior utility leader to shape the future of an organization that literally sustains life and industry in the region. The new General Manager will inherit a stable, respected organization with an experienced team and strong customer partnerships, and will be empowered to plan for the future and district resilience in a changing water environment.

The San Patricio Municipal Water District was created to ensure reliable, high‑quality water service for the region’s growing municipalities and industrial base. Governed by an eight‑member Board of Directors, seven elected from member communities and one representing industrial customers, the District operates as a wholesale water provider with a dual mission: to deliver dependable potable water to municipal systems and provide tailored grades of water (potable, clarified, raw, and highly polished) to industrial users.

SPMWD draws its supply through long‑term contracts with the City of Corpus Christi and manages a comprehensive treatment and…