Brenda BurmanThe Water Education Foundation Board of Directors has elected five new members, including a former Reclamation commissioner, Utah’s Colorado River negotiator and a Navajo Nation member, to its diverse array of Western water interests that govern the impartial nonprofit based in Sacramento.

Joining the board in 2025 are:

• Brenda Burman, the first woman to lead the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and current general manager of the Central Arizona Project.
• Bill Hasencamp, manager of Colorado River resources for Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
• Bryce McAteer, vice president of investments with International Farming and an alum of the Foundation’s 2023 California Water Leaders program.
• Gene Shawcroft, Utah’s Colorado River Commissioner and general manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District.
• Cora Tso, an enrolled Navajo Nation member and a senior research fellow at Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy. She is an alum of the Foundation’s 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders program.

The five join a volunteer board of more than 30 members representing a broad cross-section of water supply, business, environmental, agricultural and public interest organizations. The Foundation is led day-to-day by Executive Director Jenn Bowles who oversees a team of teachers, journalists and nonprofit professionals.

Founded in 1977, the Foundation offers water news, publications, maps, workshops and tours to raise awareness of water issues in California and across the Colorado River Basin. The Foundation also serves as the California coordinator of Project WET, an international K-12 program that helps teachers learn how to bring lessons on water science into the classroom.

The Board of Directors voted to approve the new board members at their Dec. 9, 2024 meeting. Their appointments took effect on Jan. 1, 2025.