Levy aide takes job with Suffolk Water Authority

Carrie Meek Gallagher, the Levy administration's top environmental aide, has been hired to fill a new $145,000-a-year post as chief sustainability officer for the Suffolk County Water Authority.

The five-member board voted unanimously last week to hire Gallagher, the commissioner of the department of environment and energy and a previous Suffolk deputy planning director.

In her new job, Gallagher will oversee protection of the authority's 560 active wells, its land management program and its infrastructure needs as well as water and energy conservation initiatives.

"Carrie is the perfect person to help us realize these goals," said Jeff Szabo, authority chief executive.

Gallagher, a Stony Brook resident, said, "I look forward to focusing on the big-picture issues that will impact the Suffolk Water Authority's future and by extension, the future of all Suffolk residents." The authority serves 1.2 million Suffolk residents.

Gallagher is expected to begin work around the start of the new year.