Brenda Burman

Brenda Wren Burman is an American attorney and government official who served as commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation from 2017 to 2021. Prior to assuming that position, she served as director of water strategy at the Salt River Project. Burman served in the George W. Bush administration as Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.^[1] She has previously held positions with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, The Nature Conservancy, and U.S. Senator Jon Kyl.^[2]

Burman was born in Santa Clara County, California and grew up in Minnesota and New Jersey. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College in 1989, where she was a member of the college's field hockey team. After college, Burman worked as a volunteer trail crew member at Carlsbad Caverns National Park and became a park ranger at the Grand Canyon. She attended law school at the University of Arizona School of Law, earning a Juris Doctor.^[3]

After law school, she served as a clerk on the Wyoming Supreme Court. Burman worked for four years in private practice, where she handled natural resource issues. In 2002, she became legislative counsel for energy and water for U.S. Senator Jon Kyl. As an attorney, Burman dealt extensively with Native American water rights issues.

In 2005, Burman took a role with the United States Department of the Interior as counselor to the assistant secretary for water and science.^[3] She later transitioned to the United States Bureau of Reclamation, where she served as deputy commissioner for external and intergovernmental affairs.^[3] Burman rejoined the U.S. Department of the Interior as a deputy assistant secretary in 2007.

Burman dejó el gobierno federal al final de la administración de George W. Bush y se unió a The Nature Conservancy como administradora sénior de políticas hídricas. En 2011, asumió un cargo en el Distrito Metropolitano de Agua del Sur de California como gerente de proyectos especiales. En 2015, Burman se convirtió en asesora ejecutiva de políticas hídricas y directora de estrategia hídrica en el Salt River Project . ^{[ 4 ]}