Shivaji Deshmukh

Shivaji Deshmukh joined the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on November 3, 2025, as general manager-designate to ensure a seamless leadership transition. He will become general manager on January 1, 2026.

Deshmukh comes to the district from the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, one of Metropolitan’s 26 member agencies, where he has been general manager since 2019. Previously, he served as assistant general manager at West Basin Municipal Water District and as program manager at Orange County Water District, where he oversaw the design, construction, and operation of one of the state's first and largest recycled water projects, the Groundwater Replenishment System in Orange County.

Deshmukh is president-elect of the WateReuse California Board of Trustees and serves on the US Water Alliance Board of Directors.

Deshmukh holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from UCLA.