After 20 years as a director of the Sonoma County Water Agency, departing Sonoma County Supervisor Tim Smith thinks there's a better way to govern that key department.

It is unclear if anyone on the new Board of Supervisors is prepared to take up this issue and champion it, but if and when someone does, Smith says some of the political groundwork has already been laid.

Smith says the Sonoma County Transportation Agency could be used as a successful model for a more broadly shared governance of a similar agency dedicated to managing all the county's water infrastructure and related endeavors.