Olema resident Ken Eichstaedt will represent West Marin ratepayers on the board of the North Marin Water District. The two-year appointment comes after the death of former board member Jim Grossi, a Novato civil engineer, in November. Mr. Eichstaedt, also a civil engineer, said he had collaborated with Mr. Grossi in the past, and the district reached out to him about the opening.

“This is not the way we like to get appointed to boards, but he was a gem of a guy,” Mr. Eichstaedt said of his predecessor.

Mr. Eichstaedt has spearheaded utility and water projects across the Bay Area. After a stint as general manager of the Inverness Public Utility District, he took a job as a traffic engineer for the City of Petaluma. He is excited to get back into utilities, and said he feels well acquainted with North Marin’s unique well-water system and the challenges that come with it.

“I find water systems fascinating—especially North Marin’s system,” he said.

The district is divided into five areas, all with a population of roughly 12,000. Divisions 2 through 5 cover Novato, while Division 1 makes a crescent shape around the other divisions and includes parts of Point Reyes Station, Inverness and Inverness Park. North Marin also treats sewage for areas of Dillon Beach.

Tony Williams, the district’s general manager, said that having a West Marin liaison is important, especially in emergencies. “With these recent storms, to have someone present out there is nice. To know if and when power’s gone out,” Mr. Williams said.

For years, North Marin has struggled with saltwater intrusion at its two wells that provide drinking water for customers on the coast. This winter, the district started drawing from a second well on the Gallagher ranch, where it earlier dug a well that did not perform as expected. The new well increases the supply of high-quality groundwater and lowers demand on the district’s problematic Coast Guard wells.

Mr. Eichstaedt said he admired how the district handled the salinity issue and is looking forward to solving infrastructure problems. “In times of fire or earthquakes, we have got to have a system that can hold up to the force of nature,” Mr. Eichstaedt said. “They’ve got two redwood tanks that need to be replaced and the Greenbridge water line that’s rising. If these projects are shepherded right, they’ll be very successful.”