CHARLES CARDEN
General Manager
Mr. Charles (Chuck) H. Carden is the agency's General Manager, leading Tampa Bay Water's administration and operations under the policy direction of the agency's Board of Directors. Under his leadership, the agency weathered the COVID-19 pandemic by communicating regularly with the agency's 150+ staff, implementing a work-from-home policy for staff who could do so successfully, creating processes to minimize the potential infection of critical workers, and ensuring the continued delivery of high-quality water to the member governments. In addition, under Chuck's leadership, the agency is moving forward with several important initiatives including:
Previously, Chuck served at the agency's Chief Operating Officer over the Water Production Division. He was responsible for maintaining and operating the region’s unique wholesale drinking water supply system. Under his management, Tampa Bay Water constructed over $1 billion in new infrastructure and pipelines and the region’s first alternative water supplies. The system includes a 15.5-billion-gallon reservoir, a 25-million-gallon-per-day seawater desalination facility, and an Enhanced Surface Water System that includes intakes on the Alafia River and Tampa Bypass Canal and a 120-million-gallon-per-day, state-of-the-art surface water treatment facility. The completion of these alternative water supplies enabled the reduction of permitted groundwater use by more than 100 million gallons per day. Chuck was integral in the construction and completion of both the Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant and the Desalination Facility.
Mr. Carden holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from the University of Tampa and has been employed at Tampa Bay Water since 1993. In his tenure at the agency, Mr. Carden worked in finance, project management, construction and water production. Mr. Carden served on the Executive Committee of the Florida Section/American Water Works Association as the Past-Chair, was the inaugural Chairman of the Florida 2030 initiative for the section and is a member of Leadership Tampa Bay Class of 2002.