Chris Harder, who has been serving as Fort Worth’s interim water director since March 2018, was named director.
“We’re delighted that Chris Harder has agreed to serve as our next water director,” said Assistant City Manager Jay Chapa. “He has an excellent reputation among his peers in the water industry and has impressed us with his leadership skills, his broad vision for the future of the water utility and his ability to think critically about addressing a wide range of issues.”
Harder joined Fort Worth in 1999 as a project engineer and was promoted to engineering manager in 2006. In 2017, he was selected as assistant director of the engineering division. A departmental reorganization in 2017 moved him to the role of assistant director of the strategic operations division. This division oversees capital project planning, asset management, regulatory compliance and laboratory operations.
His work experience includes capital planning, master plan studies and assessments, and design and management of numerous projects related to water and wastewater treatment plants, pump stations, lift stations, storage tanks, pipelines and meter stations.
Harder is a registered professional engineer in Texas. He earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Valparaiso University, a master of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a master of business administration degree from Texas Christian University.
Fort Worth had hired a director for the water department in December 2017, but he was let go after 3 months on the job.