Farmers and others reliant on water provided by the Bureau of Reclamation are warning that staffing cuts at the agency could threaten access to supplies — and in one case are offering to step into the breach to help keep flows moving.
Reclamation, like other federal agencies operating under a directive from the White House and so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has been actively reducing its staff across the 17 states where it manages canals, reservoirs, dams and hydropower facilities.
That leaves open concerns that the agency won’t merely be short-staffed, but lack employees who are literally responsible for turning on pumps and releasing water to irrigators, said Shane Leonard, who serves as secretary and district manager for the Kennewick Irrigation District, which draws water from the Yakima River at Prosser Dam, a short distance from the waterway’s confluence with the Columbia and Snake rivers.
“It’s really the unknown of who is going to be there: Are they qualified to do the job? Are they going to get fired and come back? And all the chaos that induces,” said Leonard, who noted that the Kennewick system, like many in the West, is entirely dependent on Reclamation to operate its water supply.
