The Trump administration has ordered shootings and acquisitions at federal agencies that run water infrastructure in California, potentially putting the agency’s ability to manage dams and supply water, according to a Central Valley water official.
The reduction in work at the Burial Bureau was ordered by Elon Musk’s government efficiency or Doge, according to two department employees with knowledge of situations that are not permitted to speak publicly.
According to one of the employees, the department employs around 1,000 people, but California is set to lose around 100 employees through firing and buyouts, eliminating about 10% of its local staff. But the larger workforce cuts are standard cuts, and the department has been ordered to prepare a plan to cut staff by 40%, the person said.
The first eligible for the dismissal was employees in the first year and the shortest employee at the agency.
The Trump administration provided millions of government workers with eight months of salary if they agreed to quit voluntarily.
Employees who applied for the “deferred resignation” acquisition include Carl Stock, regional director of the California Basin Region Bureau. Those who are shopping will leave in March and will be paid under the program until September.
Unions representing federal employees are challenging the program in court.
Internal documents reviewed by the Times show that excluded locations include maintenance mechanisms, engineers, fish biology experts, and more.
“It will have a major impact on our business,” said an employee of the Reclamation Bureau.
The government’s Ministry of Efficiency did not respond to requests for comment. Staff cuts have been reported previously by Politico.
Loss of employment at agents worries leaders in California’s water districts. The managers of 14 water agencies in Central Valley warned in a letter to Interior Secretary Dougbergham on February 25, making such a significant cut at the Landfill Bureau “compromising our ability to fulfill its mission to provide water and electricity.”
“Renewal employees in this region have critical knowledge of many of our older infrastructure habits, which is absolutely essential to ensure continuous safe and reliable water delivery across the state,” the Water Agency manager said in a letter. “Reducing the ability to eliminate burial employees with the expertise required to manage, operate and maintain matured infrastructure can have a negative impact on our water supply systems and pose a threat to public health, health and health.”
Water agencies that registered concerns include agricultural suppliers such as the Glenkolusa Irrigation District and municipal suppliers such as the Contra Costa Water District. The agency receives water from the federally operated Central Valley Project. It is a system of over 20 dams and reservoirs that grow over 400 miles and provide water to the farmland and communities of the San Joaquin Valley from the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta.
Sandy Day, director of the Regeneration Bureau’s Public Relations Bureau, said the agency “focuses on providing essential water and hydroelectric power to American citizens across 17 western states.”
“We have not commented on HR issues, but we are committed to strengthening workforce management and are working closely with the HR Administration to embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation,” Day said in an email.
The large agricultural and water agency in Central Valley supports Trump’s recent orders to the federal government, supporting “maximizing” water delivery.
In their letter, the 14 water agencies said they were ready to work with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Bureau of Reclamation.
The Bureau of Reclamation operates the major California Dams, including the Shasta Dam, and the CW “Bill” Jones Pump Plant, which draws water from the Delta and sends it to flow south into the Delta Mendota Canal.
The local Water Bureau, made up of local government water suppliers in the Sacramento region, told the Trump administration that if staff cut landfills, it would “defeat the agency’s capabilities” by operating and maintaining hydroelectric infrastructure and “substantiating the agency’s capabilities by “substantiating its capabilities” by “substantiating its public safety.”
Jim Peifer, the authorities’ executive director, wrote in a letter to Bulgham and Palumbo on February 24th. He said that the delivery time for the burial department’s water is important for agriculture, and this year the agency’s infrastructure protects the Sacramento area from dangerous flooding.
“It’s no secret that our water supply infrastructure is so outdated and requires an upgrade,” Pafer wrote. “Reducing the ability to eliminate regeneration employees with the expertise needed to move water through aging infrastructure can crippling our water supply systems and pose serious safety risks.”
Peifer said the organization is already “very leaning towards staffing,” and further workforce cuts will put people living near the dam at risk.
Staff said the cuts at the Burial Bureau are consistent with similar mass shootings at other agencies, including NOAA and the National Weather Service. The shooting has been criticized by Democrats, scientists and former government officials as a destructive effort that undermines the agency’s important work, from providing weather warnings to managing fisheries and pollution to protecting beaches.
Gordon Lyford, a former employee of the Bureau of Reclamation, who is now vice president of the nonprofit advocacy group Water League, said federal water infrastructure is complex and requires specialized knowledge to operate.
He noted, for example, that Shasta and Freiant Dam were built in the 1940s and increasingly needed repairs and inspections to ensure safety.
“Too fewer employees can increase the likelihood of disasters and failure,” says Lyford.
“The current cuts on employees are meaningless. There was no ratings or planning. We just cut a lot at once,” Lyford said. “It just harms the country and the economy.”
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