Ralph Torres, Deputy Director
State Water Project

Raphael “Ralph” Torres was appointed Deputy Director for the State Water Project by Governor Schwarzenegger on June 14th, 2006. He had been acting as Deputy Director since September 2005. His primary responsibility is management of the State Water Project.

Ralph Torres began his employment with the Department of Water Resources as an engineering student assistant in 1977. In 1979, after graduating from CSU Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering he began full time employment as an engineer in the Division of Design and Construction (later reorganized to the Division of Engineering). He continued post-graduate courses in geotechnical engineering, seismic analyses and rock mechanics while working on a variety of projects including the seismic re-evaluation of Oroville Dam, as well as most of the other dams in the State Water Project. During most of the 1980s he supervised the operations of the Department’s Engineering Laboratories in Bryte, California. While working at the laboratories Torres supervised design and construction work for North Bay Aqueduct, Coastal Aqueduct, Thermalito Diversion Dam Powerplant, Devil Canyon Powerplant Enlargement, East Branch California Aqueduct Enlargement, Los Banos Grandes Dam Investigations, the Red Bank Dams Investigations, and many other projects. After a year on a training assignment in the Department’s Budget Office, Torres returned to Design and Construction as a senior engineer, geotechnical specialist, working on numerous emergency aqueduct and levee repairs. In the 1990s as chief of the Canals and Levees Section then later as Chief of the Civil Engineering Branch, Torres managed hundreds of design, construction, and investigation projects for the State Water Project, and for other state and federal Departments.

In 2000, Torres moved to the Division of Operations and Maintenance as the Assistant to the Division Chief, assisting in the management of the State Water Project. In 2003, Torres became the Executive Manager for Oroville Relicensing. Additionally, Torres is a member of various Organizations and Committees such as the National Hydropower Association Leadership Committee and the CSUS Industry Advisory Committee.

Contact Information:

Mailing Address:

California Department of Water Resources
P.O. Box 942836, Room 1115-9
Sacramento, CA 94236-0001

Street Address:

1416 - 9th Street, Room 1115-9
Sacramento, CA 95814

Mary Ann Archuleta, Executive Assistant to:
Deputy Director Raphael A. Torres
Telephone: (916) 653-8043
E-mail Address: archulet@water.ca.gov
Mailing Address: Same as above