David L. Johnson
Partner and COO
David is a registered Professional Engineer and is known as a results-oriented engineering and project development executive. David has over 35 years of experience in water infrastructure design, construction, and funding. In David’s earlier career, he operated and managed his own agricultural operation, scaling it from a small family operation to managing over 3,000 acres of small grains and 300 Angus beef cow-calf pairs. His deep understanding of agricultural systems enriches his insights into water resource management, making him a pivotal leader in projects that span both sectors. He currently still owns and passively manages the farm, maintaining an active connection to agricultural practices.
In the seven years prior to co-founding 3 Rivers Energy Partners, David focused on the oil and gas business. He has led efforts to develop water midstream business units and marketed, designed, and obtained ROW green field projects worth over $150 million. He has evaluated multiple fresh water pipeline systems, produced water gathering and disposal systems, as well as gas lift pipeline delivery systems, all with evaluations between $20 million and $150 million. He has implemented and monitored the construction phase and developed the operation protocol and operation training on a 370,000 barrel-per-day pipeline and disposal system. He has recently implemented an automation system and water well drilling program to maintain a 350,000 barrel-per-day production and a 450,000 barrel-per-day distribution system in west Texas.
David has many years of state and local legislative experience. David was responsible for the development, permitting, and implementation of a solid waste treatment and disposal system. As part of the disposal system, David obtained legislation from the state legislature to allow transformational opportunities for water and solid waste disposal and recycling for the oil industry in ND. David also was instrumental in obtaining state legislation to create the Western Area Water Authority, as well as securing funding for the Western Area Water Supply Project, which supplies treated drinking water to a 4-county region and the oil industry in North Dakota.
David served as the Governor’s appointee to the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee. He also was the state team leader representing the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District as the joint lead agency on the Red River Valley Water Supply project EIS, which is a $700 million water supply project to serve eastern North Dakota.