Team

John J. Entsminger oversees the operations of the Las Vegas Valley Water District, which serves more than 375,000 customer accounts, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which is responsible for acquiring, treating and delivering water to local agencies that collectively serve 2 million residents and more than 40 million annual visitors. He was appointed general manager by both agencies' Boards of Directors in January 2014, having previously served as director of environmental and water resource law and senior deputy general manager. Entsminger joined the organization in 1999 as an attorney.

Entsminger has spent his career addressing the unique water challenges facing Southern Nevada. He has been instrumental in developing inter basin and international agreements protecting Lake Mead water elevations, including the 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines and Minute 319 and Minute 323 to the 1944 U.S. - Mexico Water Treaty. In April 2014, he was appointed by Governor Sandoval to serve as Nevada's lead negotiator on Colorado River matters.

On the national front, Entsminger serves on the Boards of Directors of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and the Water Research Foundation, and the Desert Research Institute Foundation Board of Trustees.

Committed to public involvement, Entsminger works closely with a committee of community stakeholders tasked with making recommendations on issues related to funding, planning and facilities construction and maintenance. These recommendations will guide future organizational initiatives, including a renewed commitment to maintaining its vast water systems.

Entsminger is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado and of the University of Colorado School of Law, where he was awarded the Charles N. Woodruff Natural Resources Law Fellowship. He and his family have been in Las Vegas for nearly 20 years.

E. Kevin Bethel is the Chief Financial Officer for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Las Vegas Valley Water District.

As the chief financial officer, Bethel is responsible for all financial functions, including debt management, capital planning, financial reporting, budgeting as well as water rates and charges for both agencies, which collectively serve more than 2 million residents and 40 million annual visitors in Southern Nevada.

Bethel has served in a financial leadership capacity in the utility industry, both regulated and non-regulated, for nearly 30 years. Before joining the Water Authority and Water District in 2018, Bethel was the senior vice president and chief financial officer at NV Energy from 2013 until 2018. Bethel joined NV Energy in 2007 as vice president and chief accounting officer.

Before moving to Nevada, Bethel served as assistant controller for American Electric Power, Inc. in Ohio. Prior experience includes key accounting management positions with The Williams Company, Central & South West Services, and the Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

Bethel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Oklahoma State University, and he holds his certified public accounting certificate from Oklahoma. Since 2008, Bethel has served as a board member of Opportunity Village, and he is the board’s past treasurer and past audit committee chair. He also served as a Las Vegas Metro Chamber Trustee from late 2013 through September 2018.

An Oklahoma native, Bethel and his wife, Sherry, have lived in Las Vegas since 2007.

Tabitha Simmons joined the Southern Nevada Water Authority in 2014. Before joining SNWA, Simmons was a partner at a local Las Vegas law firm. Her primary practice areas were administrative law, licensing, land use and zoning, and hospitality law. Simmons received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communications from the University of Nevada Reno, in 1999. She received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, in 2003. While in law school, Simmons was a member of the moot court negotiations team that led her school to the National Finals, placing in the top 10. Simmons was extremely active in the law school and received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Law School Community.

Simmons has spoken on several occasions at seminars regarding land use law and development issues in Nevada. She has been quoted in the Urban Land Institute publication and has published articles in the Clark County Bar Association Journal and the State Bar of Nevada’s Gaming Law Section Newsletter.

Simmons has received the following honors:

• Best Lawyers in America® in Government Relations Practice – 2013, 2014 and 2015, Land Use & Zoning Law – 2013, 2014 and 2015.
• Recognized in 40 Under 40 in Southern Nevada by VEGAS Inc. for 2014.
• Mountain States Super Lawyers Rising Stars in Land Use/Zoning – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
• AV®Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubble® Peer Review Rating.™
• Super Lawyers® Rising Stars – 2014.

Richard Snelding was named the Assistant Treasurer in mid-2020 after serving in multiple roles in the Finance Department since 2008. Prior to joining the Las Vegas Valley Water District, Snelding worked primarily in auditing of various state and local governments. Snelding is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the Louisiana State University in Shreveport and an Associate of Arts degree from Haskell Indian Nations University.