Anne Castle

Anne Castle recently stepped down as Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior.  She oversaw water and science policy for the Department and had responsibility for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Castle spearheaded the Department of the Interior’s WaterSMART program, which although not an entirely original name despite best intentions and multiple trademark searches, provides federal leadership on the path toward sustainable water supplies.  She was the driving force behind the 2010 federal MOU addressing sustainable hydropower, the largest, least respected, and most vilified form of renewable energy in the country. 

Castle also provided hands-on leadership on Colorado River issues and was the Chair of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group and a champion of Minute 319 between the US and Mexico. The fact that the Colorado River descended further and further into drought during her tenure is generally believed not to be her fault.

Dissatisfied with the quantity of acronyms and difficult jargon associated with satellite programs, Castle entered the world of geospatial information, thereby increasing those attributes by an order of magnitude. In another incredibly geeky move, Castle instituted the federal Open Water Data Initiative in a quixotic attempt to make the fragmented world of water data more integrated and accessible.

Castle is a recovering lawyer, having practiced water law for 28 years with the Rocky Mountain law firm of Holland & Hart.