Anne Castle

Anne Castle is a senior fellow at the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment at the University of Colorado Law School, focusing on western water issues, including Colorado River policy and Tribal water rights.  Castle was appointed by President Biden in 2022 as the U.S. Commissioner and Chair of the Upper Colorado River Commission, a position she held until January 2025.  She is a founding member of the Water Policy Group.

From 2009 to 2014, Castle was the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior where she oversaw water and science policy for the Department and had responsibility for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey.  While at Interior, Castle spearheaded the Department’s WaterSMART program, which provides federal leadership and funding to support sustainable water supplies, and launched the federal Open Water Data Initiative.

Castle practiced water law for 28 years in Denver, Colorado with the Rocky Mountain based law firm of Holland & Hart LLP.  She chaired the law firm’s management committee and its natural resources law department. She currently serves on the boards of the Colorado Water Trust, Colorado Legal Services, and Stanford University’s Water in the West program. She is the co-founder of and senior advisor to the nationwide initiative on Universal Access to Clean Water in Tribal Communities.