Bureau of Reclamation
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The Colorado River provides immeasurable value to over forty million people in two countries, seven states, and thirty Tribal Nations. The river is currently experiencing its most severe drought on record. Through partnerships facilitated by Tribal water rights settlements, the Bureau of Reclamation and Basin Tribes have made considerable progress on building a more resilient and sustainable future.
In-person: U of A Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Room 530
Gary Gold serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the US Department of the Interior where he provides leadership and oversight to the Bureau of Reclamation. In this role, he develops and implements policy initiatives to address drought in the West. His work focuses on water rights settlements, access to water for disadvantaged communities, and water infrastructure projects. Gold previously worked in the US Senate where he led successful initiatives to enact water rights settlements, improve drinking water access for Tribal communities, and advance ecosystem restoration. Prior to his experience in water policy, Gold worked for water agencies as an engineer and attorney in Texas and Arizona. He served as the lead engineer for a 100-year drought contingency plan while working at a water utility in Texas. In Arizona, Gold provided leadership and legal advice on water infrastructure projects aimed at building resilience to drought and climate change. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Arizona, a law degree from Arizona State University, and master’s degree in environmental and water resources engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. In graduate school, Gold published research on the Water Energy Nexus and received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
