For Immediate Release: July 13, 2001

Contact: Joan Moody (202) 208-3280

John W. Keys, III Confirmed by Senate as
Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation

(WASHINGTON) -- John W. Keys, III was confirmed by the U.S. Senate late Thursday by unanimous consent to lead the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, an agency he has previously served for 34 years, most recently as Pacific Northwest regional director from 1986 to 1998. Keys is a commercial airline pilot in Moab, Utah, who flies volunteer medical rescue missions and served as an NCAA football referee.

"It is an honor to us and a testimony to John's commitment to public service that he is coming to Washington to once again serve the Bureau of Reclamation," said Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton. "John will bring exceptional experience and new energy to resolving the water challenges of the West."

"I am thrilled to be serving as Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation," Keys said today. "My appointment is a vote of confidence for the Bureau because Secretary Norton reached into the agency's ranks and selected me to work for her."

As Pacific Northwest regional director, Keys managed 24 irrigation projects, 61 major dams, 11 hydroelectric plants and other facilities in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and portions of Montana and Wyoming. He developed coalitions that improved management of the Columbia River Basin, working closely with the Idaho Legislature, irrigation districts, and other federal agencies to meet Endangered Species Act water requirements for salmon in the Columbia River system, Bull trout in Idaho, snails in the Snake River and others. Likewise, he helped to work out solutions among Yakima River Basin water interests including fisheries, tribes, and farmers. In receiving Interior's highest honor - The Distinguished Service Award - in 1995, Keys was commended for maintaining open lines of communication and keeping interest groups focused on solutions.

Keys began with USBR as a civil and hydraulic engineer in Utah, North Dakota, Montana and Colorado from 1964 to 1989. He served as Chief of the Colorado River Water Quality Office in Denver from 1976-1979 and worked in Washington, D.C. as Assistant to the Regional Director during 1979-80. A native of Sheffield, Alabama, Keys received a B.S. from Georgia Tech in 1964 and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University in 1971.

Keys currently is a commercial airplane pilot based in Moab, Utah, who owns a Cessna 182, averaging about 300 volunteer hours a year for Angel Flight, Air LifeLine, and County Search and Rescue. He also has been a college football referee since 1970 and a high school referee since 1962. His wife, Dell A. Keys, is a family practicing physician with Airman Medical Examiner and flies a Cessna 172. Together they volunteer one day a week at Arches National Park.

The Bureau of Reclamation manages, develops, and protects water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. Reclamation serves as the fifth largest electric utility in the 17 Western States and the nation's second largest wholesale water supplier operating such projects as Hoover Dam and Grand Coulee.

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