MURIEL BOWSER
MAYOR
Ap
ril 9, 2025
The Honorable Phil Mendelson
Chairman
Council of
the District of Co lumbia
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 504
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Chairman Mende lson:
In accordance with section 2
of the Confirmation Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-
142; D.C. Official Code § 1-523.01), and pursuant
to section 204 of Title II of the Water and Sewer
Authority
Establishment and Department of Public Works Reorganization Act of 1996, effective April
18,
1996 (D.C. Law 11-111; D.C. Official Code § 34- 2202.04), I am pleased to nominate the following
individual:
Dr. Alexander McP hail
17th
Street, NW
Washington, DC 20011
(Ward 4 )
for appointment
as an alternate District resident member of the Board of Director s of the District of
Columbia Water
and Sewer Authority , filling a vacant seat formerly held by Dr. Joe Leonard, for the
remainder of an unexpired term to end September 12, 2028.
Enclosed, you will find biographical information detailing the experience of the above-mentioned
nominee, together with a proposed resolution to assist the Council during the confirmation process.
I would appreciate the Council’s earliest consideration of this nomination for confirmation. Please
do not hesitate to contact me, or Steven Walker, Director, Mayor’s Office of Talent and
Appointments, should the Council require additional information.
Sincerely,
Muriel Bowser
Mayor 1
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at the request
of the Mayor
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To confirm the appointment
of Dr. Alexander McPhail to the Water and Sewer Authority Board
of Directors.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the "District
of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority Board of
Directors Dr. Alexander McPhail Confirmation Resolution of 2025".
Sec.
2. The Council of the District of Columbia confirms the appointment of:
Dr. Alexander McPhail
17th Street,
NW
Washington, DC 20011
(Ward 4)
as an alternate District resident member
of the Board of Directors of the District of Columbia
Water and Sewer Authority, established by section 204
of Title II of the Water and Sewer
Authority Establishment and Department
of Public Works Reorganization Act of 1996, effective
April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-111; D.C. Official
Code§ 34-2202.04), filling a vacant seat
formerly held by Dr. Joe Leonard, for the remainder
of an unexpired term to end September 12,
2028.
Sec.
3. The Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit a copy of this resolution,
upon its adoption, to the nominee and to the Office
of the Mayor.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. Alexander A. McPhail
SYNOPSIS OF EXPEREINCE
Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Thirty years at the World Bank as an expert in the water sector.
Six years as DC Water Board Member, representing Ward 4.
Five years as Board Member for the Water Research Foundation.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University (1991).
M.A., Social Change & Development, Johns Hopkins University (1988).
B.S., Business Administration, Portland State University, Portland, OR
(1985).
PRINCIPAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Independent Consultant. Washington, DC. Project Director for multi-year
technical assistance: ‘Long-Term Technical Assistance to the City of Cape
Town for the Financial Sustainability of Water and Sanitation Services.’
Technical assistance and advice on a broad variety of financial issues
including cost of service, financial modelling, tariff restructuring, and
CAPEX implementation. March 2021-August 2022.
Expert consultant for the World Bank Group on a large study for the
restoration of the rivers surrounding Dhaka, Bangladesh. Advice on the city’s
water strategy, governance structures, investment priority planning and the
review of technical reports by the implementing international consulting
firm. July 2021 – present.
The World Bank Group, Washington, DC. Lead Water & Sanitation
Specialist (retired). Thirty years of experience preparing water sector
lending operations and analytical studies in the developing world. Areas of
expertise include infrastructure economics, public utility finance, public
utility management, institutional and legal frameworks, private sector
participation, irrigated agriculture, water resource planning and public
awareness and consultation strategies.
May 1988-February 2021. www.worldbank.org
Country Experience: Africa: Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Republic of Congo,
S. Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Latin America & Caribbean: Brazil. Middle
East & North Africa: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, West Bank Alexander McPhail Page 2
& Gaza, Yemen. Europe & Central Asia: Macedonia, Uzbekistan. Asia:
Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
Water Research Foundation, Denver, Colorado. Board Member, Public
Council on Drinking Water Research. Member, Infrastructure Reliability
Workgroup. July 2005-June 2010. www.waterrf.org
District of Columbia Water & Sewer Authority (DC-Water),
Washington, DC. Board Member for the District of Columbia. Chair,
Customer and Community Service Committee. Member, Operations and
Environmental Quality Committee. July 2000-October 2006.
www.dcwater.com
Direct Service Industries, Inc., Portland, OR. Tariff Economist for energy
intensive industries during the initial implementation of Columbia River
Basin planning under federal legislation. Assisted with the conception and
execution of rate hearing strategies before state and federal regulators to
reduce the cost of electricity purchased by the aluminum industry from
federal marketing agencies. Also involved work on watershed planning and
interactions with NGOs. September 1982-August 1985.
LANGUAGES
English (native); French (S-AM, R-G, W-F); Italian (S-A, R-G, W-F)
PUBLICATIONS
“Achieving Financial Sustainability and Recovering Costs in Bank Financed
Water Supply and Sanitation and Irrigation Projects”, co-authored with
Locussol, A., and Perry. C. World Bank Working Paper No 17226. June
2012.
“Why Don’t Households Connect to the Piped Water System: Observations
from Tunis, Tunisia”, Land Economics, Vol. 70, No. 2, pp. 189-196. May
1994.
“Overlooked Market for Water Connections in Rabat’s Shantytowns”,
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, Vol. 119, No. 3, pp.
388-405. May/June 1993.
“The ‘Five Percent Rule” for Improved Water Service: Can Households
Afford More?”, World Development, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 963-973. March
1993.
“Giving Respondents Time to Think in Contingent Valuation Studies: A
Developing Country Application”, co-authored with Whittington, D., Smith, Alexander McPhail Page 3
et al., Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Vol. 22, No. 3,
pp. 205-225. May 1992.
“Tunis and Rabat Water Demand Study”, Ph.D. Thesis, Whiting School of
Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. January 1992.
“Strategy for Cost Recovery in the Rural Water Sector”, co-authored with
Whittington, D., et al., Water Resources Research, Vol. 16, No. 9, pp. 1899-
1913. September 1990.
“Cost Recovery for Rural Water Delivery in Nigeria”, co-authored with
Whittington, D., et al., Working Paper No. 369, Infrastructure and Urban
Department, The World Bank, Washington, DC. March 1990.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
American Water Works Association 1997-Present
Asset Management Committee 2022-Present
NON-PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS
Competitive Sailboat Racing
Finance Committee Member, Severn Sailing Association
Landscaping & Gardening
Cooking
Reading
Executive Office of the Mayor – Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments
John A. Wilson Building | 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 600 | Washington, DC 20004
Dr. Alexander McPhail
Dr. Alexander McPhail has more than 35 years of professional
experience, with 33 years with the World Bank. After retiring from the
World Bank in 2021, he has been an independent consultant for the water
sector.
At the World Bank, Dr. McPhail specialized in all aspects of the water
sector including water supply and sanitation, resources planning and
conservation, utility management, financing strategies, wiliness to pay,
policy development and stakeholder consultation. Over the last decade of
work at the World Bank, he increasingly turned his attention to
developing climate resilient policies and projects, and especially in the
Middle East and South Asia. Dr. McPhail is an experienced team leader,
having formed and led more than 20 multi-disciplinary teams during his World Bank career.
Overall, he was either a team leader or team member for more than 75 projects during his World
Bank career.
Dr. McPhail routinely interacts and negotiates with government officials, including Ministers,
Directors and technical staff. He also interacts frequently with the donor community, both
multilateral and bilateral. He is an experienced speaker and presenter at international conferences
and forums and has designed and drafted hundreds of presentations for a variety of audiences. He
is known and sought after for his ability to explain complex concepts and operations to audiences
in a simple and coherent manner.
Dr. McPhail also previously served, for 6 years, a member of the Board of Directors for the District
of Columbia Water & Sewer Authority. In this position he c haired the Customer S ervice
Committee and was a member of the Operations and Audit Committees. As a Board member, he
regularly helped develop the utility’s policies and procedures, ranging from strategic directions to
promoting procurement of minority and women owned contractors. He also helped to guide the
utility’s over $2 billion 10- year capital program. While on the Board, Dr. McPhail initiated a low-
income bill assistance fund and led a Board initiative to replace lead service lines.
A Ward 4 resident, Dr. McPhail earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from
Portland State University, and both his Bachelor of Arts in Social Change & Development and his
PhD in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Executive Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser
Office of the General Counsel to the Mayor
______________________________________________________________________________
The John A. Wilson Building • 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW • Suite 300 • Washington, D.C. 20004 • Office (202) 724-7681
To: Tomas Talamante, Steve Walker
From: Betsy Cavendish
Date: March 27, 2025
Subject: Legal sufficiency review of Resolutions nominating Dr. Jimmy Ortiz, Laurence
Gill, Rob Hawkins, and Dr. Alexander McPhail as members of the Board of
Directors of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority
This is to Certify that this office has reviewed the above-referenced resolution and
found it to be legally unobjectionable. If you have any questions in this regard, please do not
hesitate to call Erika Satterlee, Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of the Mayor, at 202-
724-1303, or me at 202-724-7681.
______________________________
Elizabeth A. (Betsy) Cavendish