At the November 15, 2023 board meeting, the Vallecitos Water District (VWD) Board of Directors voted unanimously to appoint James Gumpel as General Manager beginning January 1, 2024.
James was born in 1973 in Uijeongbu, South Korea (same location as the fictional 4077th hospital on the television show M*A*S*H) at the army base where his father was stationed. During his childhood he lived in Korea, Japan, the Bronx, Yonkers, and finally in California where he lived in Los Angeles and then Camarillo, where he attended middle and high school.
James graduated from San Diego State University with a Civil Engineering degree. After college, he worked in the private sector for five years focusing on water, wastewater, and recycled water projects. He joined the Otay Water District in 2000 and worked there for about five years before joining VWD on May 16, 2005. James was initially the Capital Facilities/Construction Engineer before being promoted to Principal Engineer, District Engineer and more recently to Assistant General Manager.
One of the larger projects that James oversaw during his career at VWD was the design and construction of the 40-million-gallon Twin Oaks Reservoir #2 (TOR2). At the time of its completion, TOR2 was the largest prestressed concrete tank in the world.
James is an avid skier, sailor, mountain biker, and coaches’ youth baseball. He is married to his wife Melissa, and they live with their three children in San Marcos.