DRBC Deputy Executive Director Kristen Bowman Kavanagh, P.E. Click for larger image.

Kristen Bowman Kavanagh, P.E., is the Deputy Executive Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), a federal-interstate agency created in 1961 by compact legislation signed into law by President Kennedy and the governors of the four basin states with land draining to the Delaware River. The Deputy Executive Director is responsible for the technical and managerial programs to develop and effectuate plans, policies and projects relating to the water resources of the Delaware River Basin. This includes leading the Commission's team of scientists, engineers and planners in implementing the annual Water Resources Program.

Kavanagh also serves as the staff liaison to the DRBC's Advisory Committee on Climate Change, coordinates the Commission's technical work on climate change and sea level rise and has recently kicked off development of the Commission's first climate resilience plan.

Prior to assuming the duties of Deputy Executive Director in 2019, Kavanagh served as President and Principal Engineer at Flow Science Incorporated, where she led business operations and development. She also held significant technical roles in hydrodynamic and water quality modeling studies of lakes and reservoirs, rivers and coastal ocean areas for use in adaptive management plans, spill response plans and long-term planning and operations.

Throughout Kavanagh's 30 years of leadership in water resource management and engineering, she has worked with a broad array of public agencies as well as diverse stakeholders representing watershed organizations, water users, industrial, construction and engineering companies, water and wastewater utilities and academic and research institutions.

She is the current Interstates Representative on the board of directors of the Association of Clean Water Administrators, a Past-Chair of the Southeast District Pennsylvania American Water Works Association and a former President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Kavanagh holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering: Environmental and Water Resources and an M.S. degree in Civil Engineering: Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology, both from Stanford University. She is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and eight other states.

On September 5, 2024, the DRBC announced that it has appointed Kavanagh to succeed Steve Tambini as the DRBC's next Executive Director on December 1, 2024. View the news release announcing this appointment (September 5, 2024).