Peter Silva

Peter S. Silva is President of Silva Silva International, a small civil engineering firm in the San Diego area specializing in water resources management. He is a civil engineer with over 43 years of professional experience in the water and wastewater fields. He began his career as a staff member of the California Regional Board in San Diego and then was in charge of the San Diego office of the International Boundary and Water Commission from 1983–87. He then worked for the City of San Diego Water Utilities from 1987–97. In 1994, Peter was appointed by President Clinton to the board of the newly created Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and served as the deputy general manager of the BECC from 1997–2000. From 2000–06, he served as the vice-chair of the California Water Resources Control Board, being appointed by California governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He then was employed by the Metropolitan Water District from 2006–09 to provide policy advice on issues (including Mexico) related to the Lower Colorado River Basin. In 2009, Peter was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the US Senate to the post of assistant administrator for water for the US EPA, where he ran the nation’s water and wastewater programs. Peter is fluent in Spanish and received his bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Cal Poly Pomona.