News Release Archive

Hvinden, Palumbo Selected for Key Lower Colorado Region Management Positions

Media Contact: Robert Walsh, 702.293.8421

For Release: September 23, 2008

Steve Hvinden, an economist with extensive experience in Colorado River operations, and David Palumbo, a Civil Engineer with broad private and public sector experience, have been selected for key management positions in Reclamation's Lower Colorado Region in Boulder City, Nev.

Hvinden, Deputy Area Manager for the Boulder Canyon Operations Office since 2004, has been selected for the Area Manager position. Palumbo, who has been the Deputy Director of the Engineering Services Office for the past year, has been named Office Director. "Steve and David bring a wealth of experience to these jobs," said Regional Director Lorri Gray. "In his 27 years of experience, Steve has held a variety of positions in the Operations Office. And David has successfully performed a wide range of engineering and construction tasks throughout his career. In addition, both Steve and David have demonstrated their ability to successfully communicate and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders and interest groups, building strong working relationships to help the Region accomplish its programs."

Steve Hvinden

As Boulder Canyon Operations Office Area Manager, Hvinden will oversee the Office's daily Colorado River operations, water and power contracting program, and water accounting functions.

Hvinden has an extensive background in water and repayment contracting in the Lower Colorado Region, having managed that program for 11 years. He also played a key role in the development of the Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operation for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which were adopted in December 2007, and was responsible for implementing the Region's demonstration system conservation program, which will help determine whether voluntary conservation of water through the use of land fallowing can be used as an interim and supplemental measure to reduce impacts to Colorado River reservoir water supplies.

A native of North Dakota, Hvinden resides in Boulder City, Nev., with his wife Sandy. A graduate of Maddock High School, in Maddock, North Dakota, he received his Bachelor and Masters of Science degrees in agricultural economics from North Dakota State University.

David Palumbo

David Palumbo joined the Lower Colorado Region as a project manager in 2005, after several years working for private engineering and construction related firms in Nevada and New York. As a project manager, Palumbo managed a multi-million dollar portfolio of engineering, acquisition and construction projects related to water conveyance, control and storage systems, fish bypass and screening features, and hydroelectric plant structures and unit rehabilitations.

He has been the Deputy Regional Engineer since fall 2007, helping manage the Engineering Services Office while also managing development and implementation of the $172 million Drop 2 Storage Reservoir Project, on which construction has just begun. That project, in southern California's Imperial Valley, will conserve an estimated 70,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water a year.

Palumbo has also participated in Reclamation's efforts to develop new policy and directives and standards for improving the agency's project management practices; his input has directly impacted the formulation of project management training and organizational changes.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Palumbo resides in Boulder City, Nev., with his wife Laura and three children. A graduate of Boulder City High School, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics from Columbia University in New York. He also holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in English Literature.

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