William Steele
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
William “Bill” Steele is the Area Manager of the Southern California Area Office of the Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region. He oversees implementation of Reclamation’s programs in: Title XVI Reclamation Water Reuse and Recycling; desalination research; water conservation; drought assistance; planning activities covering; water reuse and recycling, conjunctive use of ground and surface water resources, storm water runoff augmentation, watershed modeling addressing both water quantity and quality issues, the development of new water sources, and technical assistance to Native American Tribes.
Bill has worked in water resources since 1972 at the State and Federal levels of government and as a private consultant. He has 43 years of experience in water resources. His Federal service has all been with Reclamation for over 36 years, with the last 13 years serving as Area Manager in Southern California. Prior to coming to Southern California, Bill held various positions in Reclamation’s Washington headquarters office. From 2000 to 2002, he represented the Lower Colorado Regional Director in Washington as their Regional Liaison with the Department of the Interior, Congress and OMB and from 1998 to 2000, he was the Federal Program Manager of the Salton Sea Project serving as joint lead with the Salton Sea Authority.
Bill retired after 28 years from the US Army Reserves as a Lieutenant Colonel.
On October 28th, 2012, Bill was recognized by California State University, San Bernardino for his many years in water as their 10th recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award in Water Resources.