Levi Johnson
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Bureau of Reclamation’s California-Great Basin Region today named Levi Johnson as operations manager for the Central Valley Operations office.
Johnson will oversee the daily water and power operations of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project, one of the world’s largest water supply projects. The CVP is comprised of 20 dams and reservoirs, 11 powerplants and more than 500 miles of canals and aqueducts within California’s Central Valley.
“Levi has capably guided the Central Valley Operations office for the past year, and we are pleased to have him transition to this permanent role,” said California-Great Basin Regional Director Karl Stock. “He is a seasoned professional who will capably guide the Central Valley Operations office as it fulfills our mission to deliver water and power to people, agriculture and the environment.”
CVP operations balance the needs of agriculture, cities, fish, wildlife, tribal communities and recreational users. The CVP provides irrigation water to more than 3 million acres of farmland, municipal supplies for more than 3 million people, industrial water for several key economic areas, such as Silicon Valley and environmental water to meet wildlife refuge needs and fishery restoration. In addition, the CVP generates as much 5.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and provides major flood protection along the Sacramento, American, Stanislaus and San Joaquin rivers.
Johnson has been acting CVO operations manager since 2023. Prior to that he served deputy operations manager of CVO and the water resources branch manager for the Central California Area Office, supporting the management of the American River, Stanislaus River, and Nimbus Fish Hatchery. Johnson began his career with Reclamation in 2016 in Sacramento as a project manager with the Central Valley Project Improvement Act program. Before joining Reclamation, Johnson worked for the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District in the Columbia Basin Project as an engineer and coordinator of an extensive groundwater replacement program.
Johnson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural and biosystem engineering from the University of Arizona and a Master of Science degree in sustainable agricultural development from Montpellier SupAgro, France.
