Profile
Kevin Wheeler is a licensed engineer, academic researcher, and practitioner with over 20 years of experience in water resources planning, hydrologic and hydraulic systems modeling, water delivery system design and construction, and stakeholder capacity building. He has extensive expertise in the development and application of decision support systems for both long-term water resource planning and management as well as daily operations of reservoirs to meet multiple management objectives. Dr Wheeler engages in conflict-resolution by seeking sustainable solutions for future water use. He works on local, national, and regional levels, and often within geopolitically challenging contexts.
Dr Wheeler facilitates stakeholder involvement in managing water resources by providing technical support with modeling tools and promoting dialogue between water users for seeking sustainable solutions to complex water management problems. With experience ranging from small-scale community construction projects to large-scale international water disputes, Dr Wheeler provides a bridge between the practical and political aspects of water management.
Dr Wheeler has been working extensively on the Colorado River since 2000, including the successful facilitation of the negotiations between the United States and Mexico over sharing the resources of the river. He has played a pivotal role by creating and enhancing tools necessary to bring stakeholders together throughout the basin to develop and understand proposed water policies. He has supported federal, state, and local governments, as well as a variety of stakeholders groups, to facilitate the development of an international treaty amendment (i.e. Minute 319 to a 1944 treaty), the Multi-Species Conservation Program, and the Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
Since 2012, Dr Wheeler has supported the development of the Nile Basin through model development, stakeholder training, and exploring alternatives for cooperation and coordination of river infrastructure. He critically examines the development of new water uses and seeks sustainable management solutions that provides value to users across the basin and helps them to face an increasingly uncertain future. He completed a DPhil at the Environmental Change Institute in 2018 and collaborates regularly with research institutions across Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.