Chuck Clarke

Chuck Clarke is CEO of Cascade Water Alliance, a municipal corporation of five cities and three water and sewer districts who provide water to almost 400,000 residents and more than 22,000 businesses. Under his leadership, Cascade embarked on an extensive, inclusive public process to determine how best to deliver water supply to its members over the next 50 years and beyond. In December 2009, Cascade acquired Lake Tapps, the last major water resource in the region. He was most recently the Director of Seattle Public Utilities (SPU).SPU is responsible for managing 4 utilities: water, wastewater, solid waste and drainage. SPU provides water to 1.4 million customers with a budget of $500 million/year and a staff of 1,500. Prior to joining SPU, Chuck served as one of former Seattle Mayor Paul Schell’s deputy mayors; he is the former Regional Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency managing its operations in Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Chuck has served as Director for the Washington State Departments of Community Development and Ecology.In Vermont he served as Agency Director of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources under Governor Howard Dean. He currently serves as Chair of the Water Supply Forum serving Snohomish, King and Pierce Counties, is a Board Member of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and a founding member of the Water Utility Climate Alliance. Chuck is a Washington native and grew up in Bremerton.In 1971 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in biology and in 1982 he earned Master's Degree in Business Administration both from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. In 1995 Chuck received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from Pacific Lutheran University’s Division of Natural Sciences.