The South Columbia Basin Irrigation District congratulates Mesa Watermaster Jeff Zink on his well-deserved retirement. His 36 years of dedicated service with the District are greatly appreciated. His wealth of industry knowledge and leadership skills will be missed. We talked with Jeff about his career with the District:
What positions within the District have you held?
I was hired as a ditch rider for Ride 616 in the Mesa area. I held that position for four water seasons and was promoted to relief ditch rider on October 16, 1992. I enjoyed the position of relief ditch rider for another four water seasons and was promoted to assistant watermaster in the Wahluke area on May 9, 1997. I worked in Wahluke for 14 years and transferred to Mesa as watermaster on May 2, 2011. I will have been watermaster in Mesa for 14 years when I retire.
Please tell us about a colleague who made a positive impression on you during your years of service.
Currently, I do not get to work with my favorite person much. SCBID Secretary/Manager John O’Callaghan’s duties keep him further afield. I have known John since my days as assistant watermaster in Wahluke. He worked for the United States Bureau of Reclamation at the time and we occasionally worked on projects of mutual interest to our agencies. When John started working for SCBID, I worked with him much more and it only cemented my belief that John would always be the best prepared, hardest working person in the room. SCBID is very fortunate with their current leadership team of John O’Callaghan and Assistant Manager, Eric Dixon.
A person who made a positive impression on me the most must be Rich Hill. I knew Rich as an assistant watermaster, watermaster, and finally as field operations superintendent. Rich came to my house one afternoon and asked if I was interested in applying for a ditch rider position. He subsequently hired me for Ride 616 in Mesa. Rich had a journeyman relief ditch rider train me for about 3 days and then personally took over as ditch rider trainer for my first year as a ditch rider. Unfortunately, I only worked with Rich on a daily basis for a few short years as he transferred to the Eltopia watermaster area. Although I no longer worked with Rich daily, he somehow managed to mentor me throughout my career at SCBID. He seemed to have a sixth sense for whenever I was troubled and needed advice or guidance. He was the kind of man that was always there when you needed him the most. Without actually saying anything, Rich prompted me to always do better and to appreciate the achievements I accomplished. Much of my leadership style is nothing more than Rich Hill’s personality applied to formal leadership principles I acquired at WSU.
Do you have a particularly good memory or story from your years of service that you would like to share?
The removal and reinstallation of the radial gate at Scootney Outlet is a remarkable story of adversity and good old fashioned common sense getting the job done. First of all, Scootney Outlet is a rather large radial gate that is underneath a concrete deck and always flows at least 25 cubic feet per second through it in the off season. At the time, the Mesa crew had no experience with this kind of work and I was working as acting assistant watermaster. We had been working for a month and had only managed to build the safest, most elaborate jobsite ever seen at SCBID. With all the preparations and planning, we had managed to get the radial gate good and stuck inside the concrete structure where it was installed. We had hired a crane to lift the gate out for us and the crane could not get the gate to move in any direction. I sought guidance from then SCBID Manager, Shannon McDaniels. Shannon informed me he was sending Wahluke watermaster Don Olson and Mark Ehrhart to get things on the right track. In a very short time, Mark and Don determined what was needed to get the gate out. Don gave Mark the go ahead and Mark took a cutting torch to the radial gate and in less than 5 minutes he had it unstuck. Keep in mind that we had been working to get this gate unstuck for days. Don left me with instructions to correctly remove the gate and we had it out the very next day. Using Don’s advice, the reinstall of the new gate went very smoothly and the project was completed well within the required time frame.
What is a notable career highlight that you would like to share?
There is not just one single career highlight I can think of. However, I have been continually surprised by the ability of SCBID personnel to grow and expand their skills and knowledge to an amazing degree. I have seen many apprentices hone their skills and become competent journeymen. For me, there is nothing more satisfying than to see a temporary canal maintenance worker grow and advance to become a watermaster. I can name dozens of people who started out with little or no job knowledge to become “rock star” employees. I have been fortunate to know them and to watch them develop their careers here at SCBID.
What is the most valuable skill you have learned while working as watermaster?
Leadership. It is also a hobby of mine and something I studied at WSU. I like working with people and helping them succeed. I enjoyed the challenge building a cohesive crew that works together yet maintains their individual independence. Not only did I have my leadership studies at WSU, but I had some very good examples of good leadership here at SCBID. John O'Callaghan and Eric Dixon are good examples of contemporary strong leadership here at SCBID. I have already named Rich Hill and Don Olson previously. Both of these men were extraordinary leaders in their own way. I like to think I did an adequate job of creating a leadership incubator in the Mesa area. Time will tell as we count future employees promoted into management from Mesa.
Words of advice for the next person in the watermaster chair?
I do not like giving out general advice except the obvious. Be fair and consistent. Also, you will never regret being kind. Never be afraid to stand your ground, but do not let your stubbornness impede progress. Your opinion is valued, but it is yours and should sometimes not be shared.
What will you do with your spare time after retirement?
First and foremost, I will spend every minute of my remaining days finding ways to make my wife Donna even happier. She has put up with me for 48 years and gave me the greatest treasure of my life: four wonderful children and over a dozen grandchildren. I will spend as much time with her as she can stand. The remainder of my time will be devoted to my numerous hobbies. I like hunting, fishing and renovating my home. I like computer programming and look forward to learning at least 2 more languages to write code. I like reading books and have become a serious e-reader addict. My wife likes to travel so I imagine we will do a fair amount of that as well. We were planning a trip to Africa, but the folks we were traveling with had their home in California burn up so those plans are on hold until they can get their house in order, literally. We are planning a trip to Mexico the end of April and will continue on to Oklahoma from there. It is only a short two-week trip so it will go fast. I like to travel slowly and definitely not follow a schedule. It drives Donna mad.
If there is anything else you would like to share, please do.
I have always enjoyed my job here at SCBID. I particularly enjoyed the people I work with. I have not always been the easiest person to have around and am grateful you all have put up with me this long. While I will miss the work, I look forward to training myself to not wake up at 4:00 AM just to check the canal. Who knows, maybe I can learn to sleep in until 6:00 AM!
