The director of the Wyoming Water Development Commission is resigning, and he'll be replaced by the man he succeeded in the job a decade ago.

Mike Besson has announced his resignation, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said in a Friday press release. Returning to the post will be Mike Purcell, who held the job for 13 years before leaving in 1996.

Purcell will take over in March.

"I appreciate the opportunity," said Purcell, 61, in the release. "The water development program is important to me, and I hope to contribute to its continued success."

Purcell, a Republican, directed the Wyoming Water Development Program from 1983 to 1996, appointed by former Govs. Ed Herschler, Mike Sullivan and Jim Geringer. In 1996, Purcell started his own consulting firm, specializing in water resource management, environmental permitting, government liaison work and dispute resolution. The firm assisted the state of Wyoming in the negotiations related to the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program.

The Water Development Commission is charged with handling requests for state funding for water projects, recommending millions of dollars worth of spending to the Legislature each biennium. The Legislature in recent years has increased the pot of funding available for such projects, and Freudenthal's latest budget proposal calls for putting $45 million into a long-term account to save for water storage projects.

In his budget message to legislators, the governor expressed some frustration that no water projects have been built in his first term and said none is likely to be built over the next four years. Major dam and other water construction projects take years to complete because of the time-consuming permitting and design process.

In his Friday announcement of Purcell's hiring, Freudenthal said Purcell "brings great experience" to the Water Development Commission.

"He has the background, the energy and the capacity to be able to make the decisions that need to be made."

Purcell said in a phone interview Friday he would dissolve his Cheyenne firm to rejoin the commission. He said he's kept up with most Wyoming water issues, including efforts to enlarge Pathfinder Reservoir and proposals to pipe water from the Green River Basin in western Wyoming to the North Platte Basin.

"Since I left, I really only know what I read in the papers, so I'm kind of going into this with an open mind and with no particular agenda," Purcell said.

"I just hope the program continues to be efficient and effective," he said. "Those issues are part of the attractiveness of the position."

Besson succeeded Purcell as commission director in 1996 after working with the state agency as a full-time project manager and engineering consultant for six years. He couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

"Mr. Besson has put together this year's legislative program, and it will be a lot more efficient for him to complete that process than have a new director come in and try to catch up that quickly," Purcell said. "March 1 seemed like a good time for the turnover."

Before Purcell went to work for the state, he spent eight years with the Laramie-based Banner Associates Inc. serving as a design engineer and project manager for the firm before becoming vice president in charge of marketing.

Purcell has a bachelor's degree in business and civil engineering from the University of Wyoming. He is married with two children and two grandchildren.

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.