BOULDER CITY, Nevada - The Bureau of Reclamation today announced the selection of Michael Norris as the Area Manager of its Lower Colorado Basin Region Yuma Area Office. He has served as the Deputy Area Manager for seven years.
In his new capacity, Norris is responsible for delivery of Colorado River water to the Yuma area and Mexico, groundwater and salinity management, resource management, engineering and construction.
Norris previously served as the Chief of Desalting and Program Management for the Yuma Desalting Plant. The plant is a 72 million gallon per day facility which treats saline groundwater and is situated next to the Colorado River. His technical leadership helped facilitate the 1993, 2007 and 2010 preparation, startup and operation of the plant.
He has served in other roles with Reclamation, including coordinator for the Title I Salinity Control Research and Technology Transfer Program. Norris was on the executive committee for the planning, development and construction of the Tularosa Basin National Research Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He led a team responsible for cooperative research between Reclamation’s International Affairs and the Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corporation to improve water quality and promote advanced water treatment research in Saudi Arabia. He also served on the executive committee for the planning, design and construction of Reclamation’s premier water treatment research facility located in Yuma, Arizona.
Norris holds a Bachelor of Science in electronic engineering from DeVry University and master certification in government contracting from George Washington University. Over the past 30 years, he has gained expertise in stakeholder collaboration, leadership, consultation, planning and program development, project management, engineering, contract management and directing advanced water treatment research programs.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
