MANAGER PROFILE
Continuing a Legacy in the Upper Colorado Region: Upper Colorado Regional Director Brent Rhees
The western United States has experienced drought for many years. In fact, 2018 has been one of the worst drought years on record. With population levels estimated to double and even triple by 2050 in some western states, water supply issues continue to be a major concern. Reclamation’s Upper Colorado Region has long dealt with drought, providing water through even the worst drought conditions, and it plans to do so for many years to come. Tyler Young, writer for Municipal Water Leader, spoke with Upper Colorado Regional Director Brent Rhees about the region’s water supply future, current challenges, and potential outcomes for western irrigators. Tyler Young: Please tell us about your professional background and how you started with Reclamation.
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I went on to study at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, where I got a degree in civil and environmental engineering. Around the time of my graduation, Reclamation was looking to hire 100 to 150 engineers. I interviewed in Logan and was lucky enough to be selected to work for Reclamation. I started in Denver, under the assistant commissioner of engineering and research. At the time, I was a young engineer, happy to have a job. Denver was a little far away from home, so after about a year I decided to move back to Utah. I moved into a design group in a Reclamation office located in Utah. I spent the first third of my career in design and construction. I then had the opportunity to slide into a position that was based more around resource management, land management, environmental management, and facilities operations. The supervisor took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity that really opened doors for me later in my career. Since then, I have served as deputy area manager, deputy regional director, and now regional director. Most of my career has been in the Upper Colorado Region, which is unique within Reclamation, because typically to become a regional director, you would have moved from office to office. Tyler Young: How would you describe your management style? MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
PHOTO COURTESY OF BRENT RHEES.
Brent Rhees: I grew up in a little town in southeastern Idaho, Rexburg, which is surrounded by the traditional potato farms Idaho is famous for. Growing up, I had the opportunity to work on some of those farms, moving sprinkler pipe in the potato fields and driving trucks during potato harvests. Later, I had a summer job with Utah Power and Light, a public utility company that provided power to the potato farms. It was a great place to grow up; I benefited from an early exposure to agriculture, and I enjoy that type of lifestyle. I remember moving pipe; I earned 5 cents for each pipe length I moved across a potato field, and they were half-mile lines. It was a pretty good job to have. Looking back, it doesn’t seem like much, but having some money in my pocket at the end of the summer felt pretty good. Rexburg is downstream from Teton Dam, which was built in the mid 1970s. On June 5, 1976, the dam failed. I was a college student in Rexburg at the time, and I was there the day the dam failed. That was my first real exposure to Reclamation. I remember standing on the roof of my father’s house, staring out at all the agricultural lands and seeing the water rolling across the countryside with tremendous energy. After that disaster, I saw Reclamation step up and step in to help rebuild the community.
Upper Colorado Regional Director Brent Rhees.
