Joe Grindstaff

Representing the cities of Hemet and San Jacinto and the unincorporated areas of Valle Vista, Little Valley areas, Cactus Valley, Soboba Hot Springs and Garner Valley.

Joe Grindstaff was elected to EMWD’s Board of Directors in 2024 after a career that included four decades of local and statewide water management experience.

During his career, Mr. Grindstaff helped initiate the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, which is now known as the Delta Conveyance Project, and managed water resource programs for the state of California. He served as an assistant operations manager at EMWD before assuming leadership roles at other agencies. Throughout his career, he served as:

• General Manager of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, of which EMWD is a member agency.
• Chief Deputy Director for the Department of Water Resources, during which time he oversaw the management of many state programs ranging from the Salton Sea in the south to the Klamath River in the north, including the State Water Project system and the Delta.
• Director of the California Bay Delta Authority and Deputy Secretary for Water Policy with the California Natural Resources Agency. 
• General Manager of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, which he retired from in 2019.

Mr. Grindstaff holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He is the Board President of the Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre in Hemet. 

His EMWD board term expires at the end of December 2028.