Grand Coulee Dam is among the most powerful energy-generating dams on earth. It’s the bedrock of the federal Columbia River Power System — a network of 31 dams supplying more than half of the hydropower in the Northwest. Grand Coulee alone, overseen by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, generates one-quarter of that.
Three agencies- the Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers, and Bonneville Power Administration- collaborate to manage and maintain the Columbia River Power System. Critical operations at the Grand Coulee Dam are going understaffed as hundreds of federal employees managing the system have retired, resigned, or been released this year following new executive orders. With a cut to probationary federal employees, a freeze on new hiring at federal agencies, and incentives offered to get employees to retire and resign early there are large losses expected throughout the system. Numbers are expected to range from 200-300 for BPA and the Corps, with Reclamation having lost about 25% of its staff so far- around 1,400 people- according to reporting in Politico.
Fears include delays in major projects and concerns about the safety, reliability, and future of the region’s power transmission. The increased number of retirements will ensure the loss of institutional knowledge as well as reducing the number of people available to respond to operational emergencies.
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