The proposed firing of more than 2,000 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers federal employees, including more than 600 in the Pacific Northwest, would “dramatically” affect the Corps’ ability to execute its mission “safely and effectively,”  the leader of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association says.

Association executive director Neil Maunu sent a letter opposing the proposed cuts to the Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington congressional delegations, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) director Elon Musk.

DOGE intends to fire more than 2,000 Corps employees nationwide who are on “probationary status,” hired in a role for less than a year, and in some cases two years, Maunu states in the letter.

“We are told that well over 600 of those employees are located in the Northwestern Division, which is headquartered in Portland, and oversees five districts (Portland, Seattle, Walla Walla, Omaha and Kansas City,” Maunu writes. “Several thousand additional employees have elected to take the Deferred Resignation Plan and will be placed on paid leave beginning March 1.”

The vast majority of Northwestern Division employees are associated with the Seattle, Portland and Walla Walla districts, he added.

The Corps is “unlike any other federal agency,” Maunu writes.

“They recruit, train and retain the nation’s best engineers, program managers, operators, maintainers, environmental scientists, conservationists and more,” he states. “It can take years, and sometimes decades, for a (Corps) employee to gain the experience necessary to be successful in their field. Losing these employees will dramatically affect the Corps’ ability to execute their mission safely and effectively.”

Maunu pointed to a planned lock outage to conduct major maintenance on the majority of dams and navigation locks on the Columbia-Snake river system in mid-March.

“This well-coordinated and planned effort costs tens of millions of dollars and is absolutely critical to ensure the Congressionally-authorized federal navigation channel remains a vital supply chain link to our nation,” Maunu stated.

In 2022, 49.7 million metric tons moved on the Columbia-Snake river system, supporting more than $31 billion in commodity and cargo value, according to Maunu’s letter.

Army Corps response

“At this time, aside from the federal workforce-wide Deferred Resignation Program, the Walla Walla District has not been notified of any impacts to our workforce,” said Dylan Peters, public affairs specialist for the Corps’ Walla Walla district. “At this time we remain focused on performing our mission, managing our nation’s water resources and providing critical civil works and engineering services.”

Matt Rabe, regional director of public affairs for the Corps’ Northwestern division, said Peters’ response is essentially the same throughout the Corps.

The Corps would not be able to provide numbers of affected employees because none have left government service at this point, Rabe said.

Dredging

The Corps maintains the lower Columbia River channel at an authorized depth of 43 feet, Maunu writes.

Dredging must be done periodically to keep the river clear and safe for navigation, according to the Corps.

Maintenance dredging is completed nearly year-round with several different vessels. The channel supports nearly 1,500 vessel movements each year and more than 140,000 jobs.

“Just a one-foot reduction in the channel depth could result in over $1 million per vessel of lost cargo capacity,” Maunu writes. “The Columbia-Snake River system is the nation’s number one wheat export gateway. It is absolutely critical this supply chain link remain open and unrestricted. If not, it jeopardizes the thousands of farmers across the country who rely on it – this is a national issue of extreme importance.”

‘Shortsighted approach’

The association “strongly urges” that the federal firing of the Corps employees, and other critical federal employees, be halted immediately.

Maunu expressed concern that the process will negatively impact the safe operations and maintenance of normal Corps functions: hydropower generation, flood control, navigation, irrigation, recreation and more.

“Millions of Pacific Northwest residents are at risk due to this shortsighted approach,” he writes. “(Corps) employees are not just another cog in the wheel of unnecessary bureaucracy, they are the experts our nation relies on to ensure our federal infrastructure is safe, productive, efficient and predictable … Losing key people today will have an adverse effect on the safety and efficiency of this system and all who rely on it for decades.”