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Terry Fulp: Three Decades of Public Service in Reclamation’s Lower Colorado Region
In March 2014, Dr. Terry Fulp visits a section of the Colorado River in Mexico during the Minute 319 Pulse Flow. That section of the river had been dry for many years.
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he Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado Basin Region manages the agency’s water and power facilities on the last 688 miles of the Colorado River, across southern Nevada, Southern California, most of Arizona, and small portions of New Mexico and Utah. Reclamation facilities in the region, including the iconic Hoover Dam, deliver 9 million acre-feet of water a year and generate 5–6 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power. In this interview, Dr. Terry Fulp, the retiring regional director of the Lower Colorado Basin Region, tells Hydro Leader about his work over more than three decades in public service.
Terry Fulp: My background is in geology and geophysics. I worked summers in the oil patch and thought I’d always stay in the oil patch. During the mid-1980s downturn, I reevaluated my career goals and took a night class in environmental resources. During a class break, I was talking to the professor, and he asked me what I did and what I’d like to do. I told him
20 | HYDRO LEADER | November/December 2020
Hydro Leader: What accomplishment are you most proud of from your time at Reclamation? Terry Fulp: I think I am most proud of the relationships that I’ve developed. Relationships are critical to solving the complex water-power issues that we face. I’m a firm believer in the idea that relationships provide a basis for finding solutions among people with different points of view. Without relationships, that is much more difficult. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to build relationships broadly but also deeply. hydroleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.
Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
I was interested in living in the West. He told me that I should get into water—that water was as valuable as oil in the West. That was an eye-opener for me. I started looking into water and decided to go back to school. I got another master’s degree in Boulder, Colorado; joined a research center; earned a PhD; and got hired by the Bureau of Reclamation. I have been fortunate to have the opportunities I have had at this agency. After 31 years, I am retiring as a regional director.
