Jason Phillips agency’s fourth new manager in eight years 

By LEE JUILLERAT 

H&N Regional Editor

November 23, 2010  

 

Sabo                       Arroyave
Fry                          Phillips

   When Jason Phillips takes over Jan. 1 as manager of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Basin Area Office, he’ll be the fourth manager in eight years.

   Dave Sabo, who arrived in February 2002 in the aftermath of the 2001 Klamath Basin water crisis, left in March 2006. He was followed by Pablo Arroyave, who held the job from August 2006 to August 2008.     

   Sue Fry, who began in January 2009, was recently appointed to lead Reclamation’s new office in Sacramento that will focus on the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary.

   The Klamath Basin manager’s job is a key post because the office oversees the management of the Klamath Reclamation Project, which provides water to 240,000 acres of irrigated farmland in southern Klamath County and northeastern Siskiyou County.

   The Project also provides water to the Klamath National wildlife refuges and manages Reclamation’s ongoing Klamath Basin restoration programs.

   Basin water issues

   The question some people are asking is how the turnover affects the Basin’s often volatile water issues.

   “I see it as a good thing because it’s an opportunity for new ideas and new people to come into Basin,” Fry said. “The Klamath Basin is a special place because it is a microcosm of water problems in the West.”

   “The turnover has not been a bad thing for the Basin,” agreed Arroyave, Mid-Pacific Region’s deputy regional director. His responsibilities include oversight for the region’s five offices, including Klamath Falls.

   Former managers for the Klamath Basin BOR office say they keep in touch with Basin issues new managers easily transition into the position.

   “I’ve stayed very close to the Klamath Basin issues,” said Sabo, who keeps in touch with Basin water users and agency managers, and reviews Basin water-related websites.

   Arroyave, Sabo and Fry moved to what they describe as more stressful, tougher jobs, and Arroyave and Sabo still have regrets about leaving.

   “I was offered opportunities to move up and I did,” Sabo said.

   Moving on and up

   He transferred from Klamath Falls to Reclamation’s Salt Lake City, Utah, office as an assistant and later a deputy regional director and now works in Denver as Reclamation’s senior adviser for hydropower.

   Arroyave received a promotion, and he said the move was necessary for family reasons. “I still miss Klamath Falls a lot,” he said.

   “Klamath has been one of the most fun jobs I’ve had, and one of the hardest,” Fry said, noting that moving to Sacramento is also being done for personal reasons.

   Fry and the others also say their experiences in the Klamath Basin helped them in their work.

   “One thing I’ve learned in Klamath Falls is when you make a decision you have to see what else that decision is going to impact,” Fry said.

   “It helped me in my interactions with the Tribes and irrigators and other groups,” Arroyave said. “The experience there served me well.”  

Agency’s frequent turnover likely frustrating, official says   

   Not everyone is pleased to see frequent turnaround in managers for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Falls area office.

   “I think it’s probably frustrating to most of the people I work for,” said Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association. “It takes time to develop a relationship with folks and develop a sense of trust, and then they move on.”

   On the positive side, Addington said the managers have been promoted “and we run into them in our region and Washington, D.C., and that helps.”     

   Tom Mallams, president of the Klamath Off-Project Water Users, said he believes the frequent transfers are politically motivated.

   “I think it’s indicative of big government trying to push the agendas people don’t want,” he said, adding that he believes Basin Reclamation managers are directed to push support for the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, which his group opposes.