David Arend has been named to the position of deputy regional director for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado Basin, in charge of the office’s regional programs and operations.
In this new capacity, Arend will oversee a group of core operational programs in Arizona, Nevada and southern California. His new management responsibilities include oversight of the Lower Colorado Dams Office (which includes the Hoover, Davis and Parker dams and hydropower projects), Engineering, Power, Safety & Occupational Health, Security, Public Affairs, the Salton Sea Program, and the region’s Phoenix Area Office.
Arend has nearly 20 years of experience serving with Reclamation. He most recently served as Regional Power Manager and Power Office Chief, overseeing the operations, maintenance, and management of all power facilities within the region. He started with Reclamation in 2002 as a power systems electrician at Hoover Dam and held a variety of positions in the region, including Power Compliance Manager and Davis Dam Facility Manager. Arend worked in the private sector after a 20-year career in the U.S. Navy serving on nuclear submarines.
“David brings a wealth of power industry and facility operations experience to this vital position. He will provide direction to a team of managers throughout the region who are tackling a variety of difficult hydropower and water storage challenges in the Colorado River Basin,” said Regional Director Jacklynn (Jaci) L. Gould.
Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the U.S.
