Released On: December 23, 2005

Commissioner John Keys today announced a significant reorganization of the leadership of the Bureau of Reclamation, adding a third deputy commissioner and changing the reporting structure for several important programs within the bureau. The plan, effective Jan. 3, 2006, has been approved by Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

"As we move into the 21st Century," Keys noted, "it is crucial for us to have the right people in the right places, doing the right jobs."

The most significant aspect of the plan is the merging of several existing program areas under the new Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Administration and Budget (PAB), Larry Todd. The offices for which Todd will be responsible include Security, Safety and Law Enforcement (SSLE); Program and Budget; Program and Policy Services; the Chief Information Officer, Human Resources, Civil Rights, and the Management Services Office (Finance, Acquisitions and Property).

Until recently, Todd was head of SSLE. While the reorganization was being developed, he served as Acting Director, Administration. Todd's experience spans 31 years of federal service in various land management, reservoir design and construction, and policy and management analysis positions held in Washington, DC, Montana, Texas, and Colorado. For three years, Todd served as Director, Operations, for Reclamation with responsibility for planning, formulating, and executing all Reclamation operational program functions. During 1998, he served as Acting Regional Director, for the Great Plains Region, in Billings, Mont. He became Deputy Regional Director, in 1996 and has also served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science. Prior to those assignments, he was Area Manager for the Oklahoma-Texas Area Office, and Deputy Area Manager in the Eastern Colorado Area Office. His experience spans the Quality and Policy Management Office and Lands and Environmental Resource Office in Montana. Todd holds a Bachelor's Degree in Ecology and a Master's in Biology from Fort Hays State University in Kansas.

The Deputy Commissioner, Operations, remains William Rinne, whose responsibilities will now include the newly-created Director, Technical Resources, who will provide oversight of the Technical Services Center and Research and Development. Additionally, Rinne will continue to have responsibility for Reclamation's regional directors; and, in the Washington Office, International Affairs and Native American Affairs.

The responsibilities of David McCarthy, the Deputy Commissioner, External and Intergovernmental Affairs, remain the same. They include, among other functions, responsibility for Reclamation's national offices of Congressional and Legislative Affairs and Public Affairs.

A new position, Director, Administration, in which Larry Todd had been temporarily serving, will provide direction, management, and coordination of administrative and management support and information technology services for Reclamation. The position, which will report to the Deputy Commissioner, PAB, will be filled after the first of the year.

The Director, Technical Resources, reports to the Deputy Commissioner, Operations. The position will be filled by Maryanne Bach, who until now has been Acting Director, SSLE, and, before that, Director of Research and Development. In her new position, Bach will direct and coordinate the scientific, engineering and research services related to water resource management and development, including engineering and scientific programs in the Technical Services Center; the Research and Development Program; a new power liaison function with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Tennessee Valley Authority; and Dam Safety and Design, Estimates and Construction (DSO/DEC) oversight.

The Technical Services Center will now be managed by Michael Gabaldon, who until recently was Acting Director, Technical Resources. Mike Roluti, former director of the TSC, will now serve in the newly-created power liaison position. The DSO/DEC position will be filled competitively, as will the position of Director, Research and Development.

Relevant Links: New Reclamation Organization Chart (PDF): http://www.usbr.gov/main/images/br_org_chart.pdf Leadership Biographies http://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/presskit/index.cfm