The mass layoffs of federal workers by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are about to hit key people who control California’s water supply and are also responsible for flood protection protecting millions of Californians, particularly in Sacramento and the Central Valley.
For decades, a federal agency known as the Bureau of Reclamation has steadily been fueling the West with the water and hydropower to make this civilization possible. It manages iconic structures such as Shasta and Hoover dams. Yet now it is being tasked essentially to plan its own destruction. According to a document obtained by The Bee, it has been analyzing budget and staff cuts up to 40%.
This plan was scheduled to arrive on the desk of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum Friday, according to a Reclamation official who has had direct knowledge of the evolving process. This process is on top of cuts of about 10% of 1,075 staffers serving California, Oregon and Nevada, that have already happened in recent weeks.
Regional offices of the federal government like the one in Sacramento run by the Bureau of Reclamation have long had a degree of autonomy on how they conduct business day-to-day. That is no longer the case. For example, the Sacramento office is not allowed to sign a contract for anything greater than $50,000 without clearing it with Washington first, the official said.
This is nothing short of an intentional dismantling of one of the great institutions that provides our water and protects our homes from floods. This regional office, besides managing some of the largest reservoirs and aqueduct systems in the state, also manages funds for ecosystem restoration and local water conservation efforts.
“For the vast majority of Reclamation employees, it’s not just a job. It’s being part of a legacy that brought energy and water to the West,” said Lester Snow, a former agency regional director for two years who has also run the California Department of Water Resources and California Natural Resources Agency. “Being dismissed as unnecessary is a gut punch to their ethics and integrity.”
These crucial federal workers have had reason to be proud. This region basically grows half the nation’s food, a full 60% of its vegetables and a quarter of its fruits and nuts.
Hanging in the balance isn’t whether Reclamation can deliver on the initial ambitious water supply goals of Trump. With significantly less staff, talk of real and permanent supply expansion is basically out of the question. The unknown is whether enough staff and expertise will be left behind to reliably run key infrastructure throughout California that millions of us depend on every day.
Central Valley Project
Conceived in the Great Depression, the bureau’s Central Valley Project is the federal sister to California’s State Water Project, which together comprise the backbone of California’s north-south water delivery system. These projects manage most of the major reservoirs on the western side of the Sierra Nevada range, from the headwaters of the San Joaquin River to Shasta on the Sacramento River in the state’s far north. Folsom Reservoir, which has provided Sacramento water supply and flood protection since the 1940s, is also a CVP facility.
In the first days of his presidency, Trump had promised more “beautiful water” to California. Those inside the Reclamation agency, long accustomed to transitions in the White House, anticipated having the staffing necessary to fulfill the president’s promise to develop that water supply. But what Trump says and what he does are two different things.
First there was the loss of about 40 employees on probation, according to the Reclamation official. Then another 50 took an offer of early retirement. Then earlier this month came yet another staff-slashing move, this time orders to plan how to cut staff 10, 25 or 40%. Another early retirement offer is also expected in the coming days, and Friday will bring the aforementioned presentation of a plan for further cuts to Secretary Burgum.
Exodus to continue
Reclamation already has in the works a project to increase the size of Sisk Dam in the San Joaquin Valley. There was broad expectation of another run at enlarging Shasta Dam as well as rewriting the meticulous daily management of CVP pumping operations in the Delta. All would require staff, ideally more, to do the jobs.
Most water agencies that depend on the CVP have already publicly expressed their concerns, but so far to no avail. Here in Sacramento, “Folsom Reservoir is primarily a flood control reservoir, and relies upon Reclamation to operate it to prevent floods downstream,” said Paul Helliker, general manager of the San Juan Water District, which delivers Folsom water to customers in Sacramento and Placer counties. “Again, if they lose staff, their ability to keep you and me from getting wet in our neighborhoods could be affected.”
A lot of farmers who rely on the CVP undoubtedly voted for Trump as president. And whether they want to admit it to themselves, Trump is now betraying them.
The longer Trump and Musk go down this bleak road, the more it makes sense for Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s congressional delegation to quietly brainstorm how to minimize the federal role in California water long-term.
It makes no sense even to ponder reducing the Central Valley Project to a skeleton staff devoid of institutional memory and expertise. That would be in nobody’s interest. Yet that is exactly what Washington is now considering. What has taken decades to assemble could be destroyed in short order.
Tom Philp is a columnist for the Sacramento Bee. ©2025 The Sacramento Bee. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.