San Diego Region - Board Members

General Statement

The primary duty of the Regional Board is to protect the quality of the waters within the Region for all beneficial uses. This duty is implemented by formulating and adopting water quality plans for specific ground or surface water bodies and by prescribing and enforcing requirements on domestic and industrial water discharges. The specific responsibilities and procedures of the Regional Water Quality Boards and the State Water Resources Control Board are outlined in the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7, California Water Code).

Board Members and Executive Officer

Tomas Morales, Chair

Tomas Morales, of San Diego, was appointed to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board in November 2011. His practice focuses on civil litigation, construction, real property and insurance issues. He was a partner in Golub and Morales, LLP from 2004-2011, an attorney with Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire from 2000 to 2004 and a partner with Strong and Morales from 1994 to 2000. Mr. Morales received his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

Gary Strawn, Vice Chair

Gary Strawn, of Santee, is a retired aerospace program manager. He worked for Hamilton Sundstrand Power Systems in San Diego from 1988 to 2006, after serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1988. Mr. Strawn is a member of Trout Unlimited, San Diego Fly Fishers, San Diego River Park Foundation, San Diego Stream Team, California Golden Trout Project and Friends of Santee River Park. Mr Strawn has a bachelors degree from San Jose State University and a Master of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Eric Anderson, Board Member

Eric Anderson, of Elfin Forest, is vice president of La Costa Flower Shop and Nursery, a horticulture business, which specializes in the production, harvest, breeding, and processing of ornamental seeds and seedlings. He has served as director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau for over 12 years and was president from 1996-1998. He also serves on the County of San Diego Sunset Review Commission and previously served on the Resource Protection Review Committee. Mr. Anderson is also serving on the Elfin Forrest Harmony Grove Town Council. He is a past President of the San Diego Flower and Plant Association and a member of the International Palm Society. Mr. Anderson earned a bachelor of science degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Henry Abarbanel, Board Member

Henry Abarbanel, of Del Mar, was appointed to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board in November 2011. He has been a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego and a research physicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography since 1983. Mr. Abarbanel served on the Del Mar City Council from 1992 to 1996 and 2000 to 2008. He was chair of the San Diego Metro Wastewater Commission from 2005 to 2008. Mr. Abarbanel received his doctorate in physics at Princeton University.

Sharon Kalemkiarian, Board Member

Sharon Kalemkiarian, of San Diego, was appointed to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board in December 2012. She is a partner at the law firm of Ashworth Blanchet Christenson and Kalemkiarian LLP, where she has worked since 2000. She was director of Project Heartbeat at the San Diego County Bar Association from 1996 until 2000 and supervising attorney of the child advocacy clinic at the University of San Diego School of Law from 1993 until 1996. Ms. Kalemkiarian was a Skadden Fellow at the Legal Aid Society of San Diego from 1991 until 1993 and a clerk for the Honorable Gordon Thompson, Chief Judge of the Southern District of California, from 1989 until 1991. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.

David Gibson, Executive Officer

David W. Gibson was appointed Executive Officer on November 18, 2009. Employed by the San Diego Water Board since 2000, Mr. Gibson served as Branch Chief for the Water Quality Restoration and Standards Branch. In this capacity, he managed multiple programs, including Water Quality Standards and Basin Planning, the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads, Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment, and the Compliance Assurance Unit. Mr. Gibson brings 20 years of cumulative experience in public service in leadership roles in water quality monitoring, management and regulation to the position of Executive Officer, having served as a watershed biologist with the City of San Diego and founding the San Diego Stream Team prior to joining the San Diego Water Board. He is a fifth generation San Diegan and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from San Diego State University.