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National Water Resources Association 955 L'Enfant Plaza, North Bldg., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024 (202)488-0610
***On July 1 , the U.S . District Court in Denver with Judge Kane presiding
heard oral arguments on the substantive issues of Riverside Irrigation District
v. Andrews. NWRA has joined in this lawsuit as a plaintiff-intervenor to argue
the importance of interpreting the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species
Act so as not to interfere with the stability that the interstate water compact
system has provided for Western water users.
Mountain States Legal Foundation, in its capacity as the NWRA attorney,
argued that Congress surely did not intend to prevent Colorado from receiving
its full share of the water apportioned to the state under the South Platte
River Compact with Nebraska, which would result from the expansive interpreta-
tion the Army COE wants to give the two Congressional Acts.
We maintain that the Clean Water Act does not provide the Army COE authority
to refuse a nationwide permit based solely upon the exercise of a state water
right. Construction of the dam and reservoir at issue in this case, on the Wild-
cat Creek tributary of the Platte River, will cause no significant water quality
problems. Nevertheless, the Army COE has attempted to refuse a nationwide
"dredge and fill permit" under the Clean Water Act because it wants to maintain
a minimum stream flow of the Platte through a critical Whooping Crane habitat
260 miles downstream, near Lexington, Neb. The Army COE claims that its author-
ity comes from the Endangered Species Act.
***The supplemental budget approved by the Congress this week provides
funds for four new feasibility studies by BuRec : Pilot Butte Power Plant, WY;
Siletz River Basin Project, OR; All American Canal Relocation, CA; and the
Gibson Dam Power Plant, MT. Funds were also made available for the Bureau to
conduct, in cooperation with the State of Nebraska, a study of cost effective
alternatives to the beleaguered Norden Dam.
***The Subcom on Water and Power Resources of the House Interior and
Insular Affairs Comm under the direction of Chrm Abraham "Chick" Kazen (TX)
in a mark-up session on July 19, reported out three bills for the consideration
of the full committee. The bills are H.R. 2911 (McNulty-AZ) to authorize an
ongoing program of water resources research; H.R. 653 (Morrision-WA) to amend
PL 96-162 to provide a credit to the State of Washington for certain construc-
tion costs associated with the Yakima River Basin water enhancement project;
and S . 448 (Abdnor-SD) for the rehabilitation of the Belle Fourche Project in SD.
***We have added another speaker to the program of the July 30 Western
Water Symposium in Kalispell , MT, which NWRA is sponsoring in conjunction with
the Summer Board of Directors Meeting. John Kyl , Jr. , a member of the Phoenix
law firm of Jennings, Strouss and Salmon, will report on the long range impact
of the recent landmark decision of the U.S . Supreme Court in the case of AZ v.
San Carlos Appache Tribe which was consolidated with MT v. No. Cheyenne Tribe.
In its analysis of Colorado River Conservation District v. United States the
Court held that when applied to federal suits brought by the Indian tribes,
rather than by the United States, seeking adjudication of Indian water rights.
The Court ruled that MT and AZ District Courts acted properly by dismissing or
staying such proceeding in favor of state court actions.
***Bob Olsen has been named by BuRec Comm Bob Broadbent to be the new Asst
Comm for Planning and Operation, a post formerly held by Gene Hinds and Cliff
Barrett. Bob is an old BuRec hand, but he left the Bureau when the power dis-
tribution authority was transferred to Dept of Energy. He has been with WAPA
in their Boulder City Office. John Brown, project mgr of the BuRec Durango, CO
office has been promoted to Asst Regional Director of the Lower Colorado Region.
His responsibilities will include design and construction activities on the
Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Project and the CAP. A surprise personnel
action of interest to many NWRA members is the announcement that Maj Gen Hugh G
Robinson, commander of the SW Div of the COE at Dallas will retire on July 31.
***NWRA members will be saddened to learn of the passing of Albra Johnson.
After three years of courageous struggle, on July 14 , she succumbed to the
ravages of cancer. Albra was the devoted wife of Harold T. "Bizz" Johnson, who
epresented the 1st Congressional District of CA with distinction for 22 years.
aen Bizz left the Congress, he was Chrm of the House Public orks and Trans-
1983 CONVENTION, HOTEL EXCELSII E"° 3'`' KLAHOMAOCTOBER 25-28
por-cation Committee. Conc.o__ences may ue expressec _n -_.je -_orm o-- a c.onation to
the Roseville Community Hospital Expansion Fund, Roseville, CA 95678 .
***The 1983 run-off which has been surging down the Colorado River this
summer, is the highest amount of flow in the river since record keeping began
in the late 1800 ' s. Latest estimates place the flow at 210% of normal . During
this critical period, the Bureau of Reclamation has received considerable
criticism concerning their management of the river, when in fact, we believe
the Bureau should be receiving accolades.
For example, radio station KNBC in Los Angeles editorilized, "the flooding
was caused by human errors; timidity on the part of the river ' s managers. As
early as December, water experts were predicting spring run-off far above normal ,
based on their own measurements of the snowpack in the Rockies. Right then,
those same experts should have been releasing far more than the normal amounts
of water downstream. " Hogwash!
The facts are that in December, the BuRec did increase releases to 19, 000
cubic feet per second (cfs) , but releases were cut back in Feb and Mar to about
17 , 000 cfs when forecasts for spring run-off were estimated in the normal range
of 7 . 1 million acre feet. By May 1 , the forecast was up to 8 . 1 million acre feet
or just 117% of normal . The great increase did not come until late in the season.
On June 1 , the forecast was up to 9. 1 million acre feet or 131% of normal. Heavy
late snows through most of May were followed by a hot spell and heavy rainfall
which pushed the June 15 run-off forecast to 13 . 3 million acre feet or 191% of
normal. A mighty jump in just two weeks!
Faced with this unprecedented situation, the BuRec employees of the Upper
and Lower Colorado River Regions , through close cooperation, did a masterful job
of fine tuning the releases from Flaming George, Glenn Canyon, Hoover and lesser
structures under their control.
A critical situation was developing at Glenn Canyon as excessive cavitation
and erosion was noted on the spillway. Over the 4th of July weekend, a contractor
was rushed to the site to undertake emergency protective maintenance on the
spillways, thus averting a potentially dangerous situation. Releases at Glenn
Canyon peaked at 92 , 000 cfs , but the crest has passed and releases are now down
to 45, 000 cfs. There remains in the Glenn Canyon reservoir a million acre feet of
surcharge storage yet to be released , but not until downstream reservoirs are
prepared to receive the additional water. The extra water charging through the
Glenn Canyon turbines has enabled the BuRec to produce 1, 470, 000, 000 KWH over
and above its normal production. This is equivalent to 2 . 6 million barrels of
oil for thermal generation of a like amount of power.
In the Lower Colorado Region, the flow over the spillway gates at Hoover
Dam began on July 3 . The peak flow is expected on July 24 , when it is estimated
the water will be flowing at a depth of about 4 1/2 ft over the spillway gates.
Water is expected to continue to flow over the spillway until early August. One
person described the water cascading over the Hoover spillway as the "Niagara
of the West, a spectacular sight. " Electric generation continues at Hoover ,
although somewhat below normal production. About 10 , 000 cfs are passing through
the turbines whereas at this time of the year 12-14 , 000 cfs would be normal.
The worst is over, the rate of inflow to Lake Mead is dropping and the
situation is improving every day.
The flood damage that was caused by this freak of nature is regretable, but
Secretary Watt put the whole picture in perspective when he said, "Imagine what
the damage would have been if we did not have these great dams on the Colorado. "
There have been many tense and anxious days for the river managers, but the
full support and encouragement of Comm Broadbent, the responsible personnel of
the Upper Colorado and Lower Colorado Regions did a professionally skillful and
commendable job under these unprecedented conditions. We say, well done!
To keep interested parties advised of current conditions along the river,
BuRec has installed a toll free number for recorded information on flow stats.
Callers in NV should dial 800/433-8800. From AZ ,CA, ID, OR and UT, the number is
800/433-9900.
WE HEARD THAT THE NUCLEAR FREEZE IS POPULAR IN ALABAMA, BECAUSE DOWN THERE THEY
THINK IT IS SOMETHING TO DRINK.
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