In this conversation (recorded on 12/09/2024), Dr. Todd Votteler, Principal of Collaborative Water Resolution and Editor-in-Chief of Texas+Water and the Texas Water Journal, discusses Texas’ statewide flood plan with L’Oreal Stepney, P.E., Chairwoman of the Texas Water Development Board. This plan provides a comprehensive assessment of flood risk and solutions to mitigate that risk.
L’Oreal Stepney was named Chairwoman of the Texas Water Development Board by Governor Greg Abbott on January 8, 2025. Governor Abbott appointed her to the Board in December 2022 for a term beginning January 1, 2023.
Stepney previously served as the deputy executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). She began working for TCEQ in 1992, first in the Air Permitting Division for eight years, then as section manager for the Wastewater Permitting Section before being promoted to director of the Water Quality Division in 2003. She also served as deputy director of the Office of Water upon its creation in 2009. The Office of Water encompasses TCEQ’s water availability, water districts, groundwater, river compacts, water quality permitting and planning, and public drinking water functions. During her time at TCEQ, Stepney worked closely with the Texas Water Development Board on several water programs.
Additionally, Stepney has participated in the group from Texas that meets with Mexico and the International Boundary and Water Commission to negotiate water deliveries under the Rio Grande 1944 Treaty. She is a board member for the Mickey Leland Environmental Internship Program and a graduate of the University of Texas Governor’s Center Executive Management Program and the University of Texas Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution Fellows Program.
Stepney received a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering and a master of science in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
Her term will expire February 1, 2029.