Chief Operating Officer
Richard Rich is the Chief Operating Officer for SouthWest Water Company. He has more than 20 years of experience in the regulated water and wastewater industry. As COO, Richard is responsible for driving strategic prioritization and operational excellence for all of SouthWest Water’s business units serving over 155,000 homes and businesses. SWWC’s core values are providing exceptional customer service, being environmental stewards by providing safe drinking water and wastewater services, maintaining a culture of safety with continuous improvement, ongoing community partnerships, employee success, and creating value for our shareholder.
Since beginning his career with SouthWest Water in 2000, Richard has learned the company’s operations inside and out, holding key positions of ascending responsibility spanning a broad range of responsibility over Field Operations, Customer Care, Finance, Regulatory Affairs, General Administration, and most recently, President of Suburban Water Systems, SWWC’s largest unit.
Richard is a graduate of the University of New Mexico, and earned his MBA from University of Southern California. He holds leadership roles on several industry committees and was a director for both the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster and Central Basin Water Associations.