Karl J. Dreher
Director, Idaho Department of Water Resources

Biography

Karl J. Dreher is the Director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources. He was appointed to his present term by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne on January 4, 1999. Mr. Dreher has served as IDWR Director since May 15, 1995. Director Dreher is the agency's fourth director since 1974 when the then Department of Water Administration was combined with the Idaho Water Resources Board to create IDWR.
He is a licensed professional engineer with 30 years experience covering a wide spectrum of water resources engineering activities including planning, water rights evaluation and litigation, water delivery and distribution, agricultural engineering, structural analysis and design, project management and administration of construction contracts. 1986 - 1995 Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District - Head, Engineering Services Branch 1982 - 1986 Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation - Consultant (1984-1986), Senior Structural Engineer (1982-1984) 1975 - 1982 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - Concrete Dams Section - Head Analytical Design Group (1978-1982), Civil & Structural Engineer (1975-1978) 1973 - 1975 Denver Board of Water Commissioners - Water Resource & Senior Assistant Design Engineer

B.S. in Civil Engineering, Colorado State University - 1971 M.S. in Civil Engineering, Colorado State University - 1973
Born - Denver, Colorado, April 30, 1949 Married - Wife - Candace; three children - Martin , Christine , Angela

As Head of Engineering Services for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Mr. Dreher managed the work activities of a 14-person engineering group. The engineering tasks performed by this group included water resource planning and feasibility studies (including studies for dams and reservoirs and including economic and financial analyses), water rights evaluations, water rights litigation, expert testimony, operations planning, negotiation and management of design and construction contracts, and agricultural engineering assistance to area farmers. Mr. Dreher also served as the District's Program/Project Manager for the design and construction of the Southern Water Supply project. This project consists of approximately 110 miles of buried pipelines ranging in diameter from 60 inches to 18 inches. The project enhances the conveyance capacity for raw water supply municipalities and industries in the southern and eastern portions of the District's service area. The Southern Water Supply Project was the result of a planning study directed by Mr. Dreher to develop alternatives for providing future water supplies to municipalities and industries in a multicounty region along the front range of the Rocky Mountains in northeastern Colorado. The plan focused on maximizing the use of existing resources and includes water supply, water treatment, and distribution components, as well as facilitating cooperative consensus among some 60 existing water supply entities. Mr. Dreher also directed preliminary environmental, engineering, economic and financial evaluations for a multistate, multipurpose reservoir project under consideration to provide additional water supplies, flood control, and pumped-storage hydroelectric power generation. Before joining the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Mr. Dreher was employed by Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation. During his association with Stone & Webster, Mr. Dreher directed the analysis and evaluation of the structural stability and performance of a 500-ft high concrete arch dam in the Peoples Republic of China. He also directed seismic stability analyses for a 285-ft high concrete arch dam, a 300-ft high concrete gravity dam, and a 285-ft high rockfill dam all located in northern Washington. Mr. Dreher also served as a consultant to the California Department of Water Resources Division of Dam Safety; the United Nations at the Central Water and Power Research Station in Pune, India; and the Southern Company Services in Birmingham, Alabama. Additionally, he was involved in business development and marketing activities. Prior to Stone & Webster Engineering, Mr. Dreher worked for the Bureau of Reclamation where he headed the Analytical Design Group in the Concrete Dams Section. During his tenure with the Bureau, Mr. Dreher performed or directed various levels of design, analysis, and evaluation for 7 major concrete dams and their foundations. These dams ranged in height from 140 to 690 ft and included arch, gravity-arch, gravity, roller-compacted gravity, and buttress type dams. Mr. Dreher has also supervised rock mechanics studies to assess the effects of seepage and abutment deformation and to determine the stability of foundations for concrete dams. In addition, Mr. Dreher has been responsible for formulating design criteria for concrete dams and other structures and served on the National Research Council Panel on Earthquake Engineering for Concrete Dams.