Utah State Engineer – Division Director
Division of Water Rights
Bio:
Teresa Wilhelmsen was first appointed Utah State Engineer in 2020 by Governor Gary Herbert. She is responsible for the general administrative supervision of all waters of Utah and the measurement, appropriation, apportionment, and distribution of those waters. She is also the Director of the Division of Water Rights.
Wilhelmsen joined the Division of Water Rights in 1997. Prior to her appointment, she most recently served as an Assistant State Engineer and the Division’s administrative hearing officer. She was the Regional Engineer for the Utah Lake and Jordan River Regional Office, and managed the Division’s adjudication program. By Gubernatorial appointment, she is currently an Alternate Commissioner for the Upper Colorado River Commission and a Utah Council Member for the Western States Water Council. She also serves as a commissioner for the Bear River Commission and is chair of Utah’s delegation to facilitate the compact.
Wilhelmsen is a Utah native and lifelong student of the west, focusing especially on water. She is an advocate of the prior appropriation doctrine and its adaptability to current water issues. Throughout her decades long career of public service, she has become recognized for creatively resolving increasingly complex competing demands for our limited water resources. During her tenure with the Division she got her boots wet (literally) as she has managed the use, measurement and distribution of both surface and groundwater. She is leading Utah’s team to finalize the Utah Navajo Water Rights settlement and is working on other federal reserve water rights settlements. She is a trusted partner with water managers, lawmakers, agricultural producers, tribal negotiators and environmental stakeholders to shape Utah water rights laws, ensure compliance with interstate river compacts and agreements, and help Utah prepare for the future. She associates with various professional organizations to teach the principles of water rights law in Utah and makes time to meet with water users.
Before joining the division, Wilhelmsen worked for the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration and Utah Division of Forestry. She is a professional engineer and graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in civil and environmental engineering.
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