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Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation On July 17, 2001, John W. Keys, III was sworn in as the 16th Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, an agency in the Department of the Interior. Keys oversees the operation and maintenance of Reclamation's water storage, water distribution, and electric power generation facilities in the 17 Western States. Reclamation is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and the fifth largest electric utility in the 17 Western States. As Commissioner, Keys is committed to developing creative solutions to meet the current and future water resource challenges facing the West through collaboration and cooperation with states, tribes, water users and others. Keys places great emphasis on operating and maintaining Reclamation projects to ensure continued delivery of water and power benefits to the public consistent with environmental and other requirements, and to honor state water rights, interstate compacts, and contracts with Reclamation's users. Keys spent his entire 34-year professional career working with Reclamation throughout the Western United States. From 1964 to 1979, he worked as a civil and hydraulic engineer, gaining valuable experience on issues related to the Great Basin, the Missouri River Basin, the Colorado River Basin, and the Columbia River Basin. In 1998, he retired from federal service, having served as Pacific Northwest Regional Director for 12 years. In 1995, Keys was awarded Interior's highest honor – The Distinguished Service Award – for maintaining open lines of communication and keeping interest groups focused on solutions. A commercial airplane pilot, Keys owns a Cessna 182 and previously averaged about 300 flight hours a year, many of them for Angel Flight, Air LifeLine, and County Search and Rescue, based out of Moab, Utah. In addition, he has been a college football referee since 1970 and a high school referee since 1962. His wife, Dell, is a family practice physician and Airman Medical Examiner, and flies a Cessna 172. Keys is a native of Sheffield, Alabama. He received a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1964 and a Master's Degree in 1971 from Brigham Young University. Keys is a registered professional engineer in the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota.
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