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NATIONAL WATER
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National Water Resources Association 955 L'Enfant Plaza, North Bldg., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024 (202)488-0610
***A productive NWRA board meeting, a well attended federal water seminar
and an enjoyable and fruitful congressional reception highlighted the first
week of April in Washington, DC. Among actions by the NWRA Board: three new
"caucuses"--with representation on the Board--were proposed . They are to
represent the interests of transportation, financial institutions , and
commercial and industrial firms . The associate and women ' s caucuses were
eliminated, thus only increasing the Board membership by one. Machinery was
also set in motion to provide in the by-laws for more clout for the agri water
users comm, the M&I comm, and the energy Comm. Language to spell out these
changes including membership on the Board for the four committee chairmen,
will be considered at the summer board meeting at Jackson, Wyoming. John
Specht immed past pres of NWRA, headed a committee which recommended these
changes . The objective is to strengthen NWRA by broadening its membership
base. The acreage limitation comm, the natl water policy and the association
mngmt committees were abolished. Responsibility for NWRA action in connection
with the repeal of Section 203 (b) of the Reclamation Reform Act ( the so-
called "hammer clause" ) will fall on the agri water users committee.
Reid Teeples (Salt River Project) reported on plans for the 1984 national
convention to be held in Phoenix, November 11-15 . It promises to be one of
the best--and best organized--in NWRA history. Organizations with mailing
lists that might be used to spread the word and invite people to the con-
vention are asked to get in touch with Bob Moore of the Agri-Business Council
(602/274-4322 ) .
Small Projects Act bills , in the past considered to be like motherhood
and apple pie, are no sure thing this year . Doyle Boen, chrm, did not paint an
optimistic picture in his report to the NWRA board of directors . The bills
are HR 4444 and S 1981 . The reason? Any bill which increases authorizations
by $600 million is not going to get by without close scrutiny. According to
Doyle, failure to approve the $600 million increase would cut off about $450
million worth of projects . About $59 million of those are in the "draft
application" stage and another $394 million are projects for which a notice of
intent has been filed . AZ, CA, CO , ID , MT, NE, OR, SD, TX and UT would be
adversely affected.
***At the spring water seminar, outgoing Asst Sec of the Army and former
NWRA director Bill Gianelli delivered his valedictory. Bill discussed four
issues he felt were the highlights of his tenure as Asst Sec: 1 ) the approval
of a cost sharing policy which he said will weed out the less desirable
projects and still keep the meritorious ones going; 2 ) a streamlining of the
pre-authorization studies process; 3 ) the promulgation in March of 1983 of the
principles and guidelines to replace the old principles and standards ; and 4)
the reform of the regulatory process, more specifically the way 404 permits
are handled . President George Proctor under authorization granted earlier by
the Board, gave Bill an honorary life membership in NWRA at the conclusion of
his remarks .
Rep Charles Pashayan (CA) discussed his project financing bill (HR 4480)
and fielded a number of questions . Rep Robert Roe (NJ) , chrm of the Water
Resources Subcomm of the House Public Works and Trans Comm, discussed the
omnibus public works bill (HR 3678) and made a stem-winding speech critical of
regional animosities in water development projects . He claimed the public
works committee had been supportive of the Safety of Dams bill in a narrow
victory on the House floor (the committee was about evenly divided, according
to the roll call ) . Sen Don Nickles (OK) , chrm of the Sen Wtr & Pwr Subcomm,
provided a thorough review of Senate activity on water bills .
***S 1132 , the falling water bill , passed the Senate without debate .
Expected opposition from Sen Metzenbaum failed to materialize (it appears
there were some beneficiaries of the bill in his own state of Ohio) . Although
it was first thought Senate passage of the bill might be enough by itself to
get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to change its proposals to
set falling water charges , proponents of the Senate bill are so buoyed by
1984 CONVENTION, HYATT REGEN 3IZONA, NOVEMBER 11-15
841179 cJ 7,4aTTE- -7' 4/-:75 tf"
a ect S 1i32 they are ake a ruh at getting hearings on tne
House side, where interest has been minimal.
Hearings were held in the House Water and Power Subcomm on HR 2790 , the
Colorado River Salinity Control Bill . Rep Ray Kogovsek (CO) is pushing for
early markup, but delays for at least a couple of weeks seem likely. The agri
portion of that bill, HR 3903 , has already passed the House . Hearings were
held before the Senate Agri Comm the week of Apr 1 but no action is expected
pending House action on HR 2790 . The companion to Kogovsek ' s bill is S 752 ,
by Sen Armstrong (CO) .
***The Subcomm on Wtr& Pwr of the Senate Enrgy and Natl Res Comm
conducted a sequential referral hearing on the Senate Omnibus Public Works
bill, companion to the Roe bill . NWRA Ex Vice Pres J .W. O' Meara testified. At
the outset of his remarks, O'Meara commended the Comm on Public Works and the
Environment , particularly the Chrm of the Subcomm on Water and Energy, Sen
James Abdnor , for the dedicated efforts to bring forth the first public works
omnibus bill since 1976 . Noting that there were some features of the bill
that should be amended, O'Meara said, "We have neglected our water development
programs for too long and we strongly endorse the enactment of S 1739 . He
then suggested that the creation of a National Water Policy Board, as
provided in Title IX of the bill, was unnecessary. He also recommended that
the cost sharing formula in the bill be in the form of guidelines rather than
be fixed by statute , and that the municipal water supply loan program provided
in Title VIII be made available to the BuRec as well as to the COE . The loan
program would authorize from $400 million for FY 1985 increasing to $800
million for FY 1989. He also criticized a $7 . 5 million figure in the bill for
mitigation of loses to fish and wildlife as "arbitrary" , and he expressed
grave concern over the provision that would allow the Federal Government to
acquire water rights for mitigation purposes by condemnation.
***Asst Sec Broadbent and Asst Sec of Navy Untermeyer testified before
the House Wtr & Pwr Res Subcomm in support of the $218 million Santa Margarita
Project (CA) on April 10 . The project which will supply irrigation and M&I
water to Fallbrook and Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base has drawn the fire of
environmentalists who claim BuRec ' s economic analysis is faulty. Comments on
the draft EIS are due by June 4. Copies are available from Robert Welsh, Prog
Mgr, USBuRec, P.O. Box 427, Boulder City, NV 89005; (702/293-8575) .
***According to the Washington Post, Atty Gen Wm French Smith has asked
the White House to nominate Carole E Dinkins, the highly respected former head
of the Lands and Natl Res Div, as deputy attorney general, the #2 position in
the dept.
***Former Senator Frank Church of Idaho, a staunch friend of western
water development and at one time the Chrm of the Subcomm on Water and Power
of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Comm, died of cancer in his home in
Bethesda , MD on April 7 . First elected to the Senate in 1956 at the age of
32, his service in the Senate spanned 12 Congresses and 6 Administrations .
Sen Church was the keynote speaker at the NWRA national convention in Boise,
ID in 1977 . At that meeting, NWRA presented him their silver water bucket,
symbolic of being designated "Water Statesman of the Year . "
Pat O'Meara represented NWRA at the crowded memorial service conducted at
the Washington National Cathedral on April 10. Richly deserved tributes at
the service were rendered by George McGovern, Cecil Andrus, Edward Kennedy,
and Senator Church ' s son , the Rev Dr F. Forrester Church . The body was
returned to Boise , Idaho for burial after the ceremonies .
***Activity is underway to arrange an informative program for the NWRA
summer water seminar to be held at the Virginian Motel in Jackson, WY on July
30-31 . President George Proctor urges all committee chairmen to consider
holding committee meetings in conjunction with the seminar. The NWRA Board
will meet at the Virginian on Aug 1 . Program details will be announced in
subsequent issues of NWL.
***Notice a change in style? The NWRA Board of Directors has engaged the
services of Gordon Nelson to prepare material for National Water Line in order
to provide Pat O' Meara with additional time for contacts on the "Hill" , at the
Dept of Int, COE, etc. Welcome aboard Nelson!
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