Published: Jun 28, 2013 | 21:09 PM

IRWD Employee Hits 35-Year Career Milestone

IRWD’S most senior employee celebrated 35 years of employment at IRWD in July. Noah Sanchez is the Operations Manager for IRWD’s Los Alisos Water Recycling Plant (LAWRP) in Lake Forest.

All 35 of his employment years have been spent at LAWRP, where Sanchez began his career while still a student at El Toro High School.

“A neighbor worked here and told me someone was needed to work part time,” he recalled. “So I would come here after school and wash down the clarifiers.”

If there was sweeping up to be done, Sanchez was there to push the broom - whatever needed doing, Sanchez did. His work during high school is not counted toward his 35 years on the job.

That part-time work gave Sanchez a wealth of experience and insight into the workings of a water district. He went out with field crews and helped read water meters, install pipelines, or anything and everything asked of him.

Like many youngsters, Sanchez did not know what he wanted to do after high school. He was offered full-time work at LAWRP and began taking the necessary certification classes to enhance his career resume.   

Sanchez eventually worked his way up to Chief Operator, then Plant Supervisor, and finally to his current position of Operations Manager.  He oversaw a major plant upgrade which was completed last year.

IRWD enjoys longevity of employment among its workforce of more than 300. Of that number, 15 employees have 30 years or more of service.