Kristen Johnson joined the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) in March 2021 as the Colorado River Programs Manager.  She is responsible for overseeing the technical staff working on the many issues affecting the state’s Colorado River entitlement and supporting ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke as the Governor’s Representative for Basin States/Colorado River negotiations.  Immediately prior to joining ADWR, Ms. Johnson was the Government Affairs Specialist at Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD).     Ms. Johnson practiced law with the Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor in Washington, D.C. where she counseled the Bureau of Reclamation from 2008-2017.  She spent a substantial amount of time in California and Oregon working in the Klamath basin.   A native Chicagoan, Ms. Johnson’s interest in western resource issues was first roused during a summer spent outside Vernal, Utah on a paleontological field crew following graduation from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology.  She has a law degree from Southern Illinois University School of Law, where she also taught Water Law as an Adjunct Professor for two semesters via distance learning (long before COVID made it “cool”).  Ms. Johnson is licensed to practice law in Illinois and California.