Department of the Interior Appointment of R. Keith Higginson as Commissioner of Reclamation.

The President today announced the appointment of R. Keith Higginson of Boise, Idaho, to be Commissioner of Reclamation. Higginson is director of the Department of Water Resources of the State of Idaho.

He was born in Boise on May 20, 1930, and received a B.S. degree in civil engineering from Utah State University in 1957.

From 1957 to 1965, Higginson was an engineer on water rights in the State engineer's office of the State of Utah.

He has been director of the Idaho department of water resources since 1965, and also serves as a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board, the Bear River Compact Commission, the Columbia Compact Commission, and the Pacific Northwest River Basins Commission.

He is responsible for all State programs of water resources and rights administration, dam safety, well construction, geothermal resources, stream channel protection, water resources planning, project construction, and data collection.