Yuma Area Office
Michael Norris, Area Manager, Yuma Area Office
Michael Norris is the Area Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Yuma Area Office (YAO) headquartered in Yuma, Arizona. He oversees all aspects of planning, environmental compliance, coordination, and operations and maintenance of the Colorado River water delivery, groundwater and salinity management, resource management, desalting and project management, engineering, construction, and maintenance services.
Michael has over 30 years of experience in leadership; consultation; planning and program development; project management; engineering; contract management and directing advanced water treatment research programs. He holds a Bachelor of Science in electronic engineering from DeVry University and master certification in government contracting from George Washington University.
He previously served as the Deputy Area Manager at the YAO from 2014 to early 2021facilitating three appropriations funded programs focusing on meeting Reclamation and stakeholder interests. Michael served as the Chief of Desalting and Program Management and is considered the technical expert on the Yuma Desalting Plant (YDP). The YDP facility treats 72 million gallons per day of saline groundwater.
Michael’s technical leadership helped facilitate the 1993, 2007, and 2010 preparation, startup, and operation of the YDP. Prior to being an office Chief, Michael was coordinator for the Title I Salinity Control Research and Technology Transfer Program. He prepared the foundation for the development of the YAO Technology Transfer program focusing on identifying ways to reduce the cost of operating YDP and accelerating pilot studies for the adoption of advanced water treatment technology by users in the West. Between 2004 and 2006, he served on the executive committee for the planning, development, and construction of the Tularosa Basin National Research Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He also led a team responsible for cooperative research between the Bureau of Reclamation International Affairs and the Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) to improve water quality and promote advanced water treatment research in Saudi Arabia. Between 1995 and 1997, he served on the executive committee for the planning, design, and construction of Reclamation’s premier water treatment research facility presently called the Water Quality Improvement Center (WQIC).
Michael was born and raised in Yuma, Arizona. His passion centers on spending time with his family in the beautiful Arizona mountains near Flagstaff.
