Reclamation’s Successes in the Pacific Northwest
Regional Director Lorri Gray signs the renewal master water service contract with East Columbia Basin Irrigation District.
Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and career with Reclamation. Lorri Gray: I have been with Reclamation for 37 years, serving in the Lower Colorado Region; the Washington, DC,
6 | IRRIGATION LEADER
office; and most recently in the Columbia–Pacific Northwest Region. Prior to being named the Columbia–Pacific Northwest regional director in 2012, I served as the Lower Colorado regional director from 2007 to 2011. I was born and raised in Cortez, Colorado, and moved to Boulder City, Nevada, where I began working as a student in Reclamation’s employee development office while still in high school. I worked in the human resources office across numerous business lines until I moved to Washington, DC, in 1998. I was offered the liaison position in DC, which I held for 2 years. Then I moved back to Boulder City to become an assistant regional director and later served as the deputy regional director for Bob Johnson, a man whom I admire and respect. After negotiating the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, I was able to
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE.
L
orri Gray, the director of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Columbia–Pacific Northwest Region, has been working for the agency since high school. With experience working for Reclamation in Nevada; Washington, DC; and Idaho in a wide range of positions, Director Gray knows the agency inside and out. In this interview with Irrigation Leader, Director Gray discusses Reclamation’s recent steps to address the Odessa groundwater area, the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan (YBIP), and the Columbia River Treaty.
