DOGE-ordered firings at the federal agency responsible for delivering water to farms and cities across California are getting in the way of President Donald Trump’s order to maximize the state’s water supplies. The Bureau of Reclamation’s California office has lost 10 percent of its staff due to buyouts and orders by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency to fire short-tenured employees, according to three people close to the office who were granted anonymity because they feared retaliation. DOGE’s cuts are already hurting Reclamation’s ability to move water through a sprawling system of pumps, canals and reservoirs to roughly a third of the state’s farmland — and impeding the agency’s ability to ratchet up deliveries in line with Trump’s demand, the people said.

Other natural resource and weather agency news:

• E&E News by Politico: Water officials warn staff cuts at Reclamation could halt California flows
• Public Domain: Blog: DOGE’s man at DOI
• The Sacramento Bee: Meteorologists warn Trump’s firing of NOAA workers could cause ‘catastrophic’ impact
• San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area National Weather Service office hit by DOGE layoffs
• KQED (San Francisco): Trump’s mass layoffs at NOAA cut into the Bay Area Weather Service
• Inside Climate News: Experts say attempted mass firing of NOAA workers may be illegal and threatens public safety
• Arizona’s Family (Phoenix): Lake Mead scientist loses ‘dream job’ to DOGE cuts after cross-country move
• Union of Concerned Scientists: Blog: What does NOAA do for us, and how can we defend it?
• John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: Wrecking ball report, California water edition