HomeMy WebLinkAbout841165.tiff Volume 8, No. 17
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National Water Resources Association 955 L'Enfant Plaza, North Bldg., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024 (202)488-0610
***Legislation to increase the authorization for the repair or re-
placement of reclamation dams with safety problems was sent to the President
for signature in the waning hours before Congress recessed for the Republican
Natl Convention. The bill, as amended to carry out a compromise reached by
Democratic officials at the natl convention in San Fran, will require that 15%
of a dam safety project ' s cost be allocated to the purposes for which the
project was originally authorized. Previously, the total cost of dam safety
work was a federal cost unless the safety problems were due to the failure of
the local agency to properly maintain it.
The 15% allocated to authorized purposes would presumably be allocated to
flood control, irrigation, hydropower, recreation, etc , and those that are
reimbursable costs--such as irriation--would have to be paid by the
beneficiaries whereas those that are not--such as flood control--would not.
Another squeaker was the High Plains Demonstration Program Act of 1983,
HR 71, which passed the Senate after being amended to place some restrictions
on the program. The House must act on the Senate amendments before the bill
can go to the President . The amendments would prohibit the demonstration
projects from using any of the waters of the Great Lakes or of the State of
Arkansas . Although we have not seen the language , another amendment we
understand would require Interior and EPA to develop a memo of understanding
of some sort dealing with the relationship of ground water to surface water,
based on the results of the demonstration projects . (Depending on what the
amendment actually says, this could bear watching. ) Another amendment would
require that each demonstration project must be funded by a line item in
appropriations acts .
There is good news and bad news on the small project front. The bad news
is that the House did not act on its Small Projects Bill (HR 4444 ) before the
recess . The good news is that the Senate version of the bill, S 1981 , will be
the subject of a hearing on Sept 20 before the Water and Power Subcomm of the
Senate Energy Comm, chaired by Sen Don Nickles (OK) . Those of you who are
urging the enactment of this legislation should make plans now to either
appear in person to testify on Sept 20 or submit written statements . As of
this writing, no other bills are scheduled to be heard on that day. The bills
would increase the small projects authorization by $600 million.
Two major bills which will still be pending in the Senate when Congress
reconvenes after Labor Day are S 1739, the Omnibus Public Works Bill , and S
431 , the Clean Water Act Reauthorization. The House version of the bill, HR
3282, has already passed and contains provisions for a new assault on non-
point source pollution. Both the Clean Water Act amendments and the public
works bills have provisions for new national water policy boards--a national
ground water commission (S 431 ) and a national board of water policy (S 1739 ) .
In addition, the problem of cost sharing has to be dealt with in the public
works bills.
With these major pieces of unfinished business, as well as such issues as
Colorado Salinity Control, CENDAK, annual charges for falling water, licensing
for small scale hydro and the applicability of preference in hydro relicensing
cases, there is clearly a long agenda for the few weeks that will remain of
the congressional session between Sept 4 and the targeted sine die adjournment
date of Oct 4. These are the days when the mischief is done and months of
labor can be lost in the blink of an eye. If there are any "non-negotiable"
issues in these bills , we would be well advised to let the Senators and
Representatives from the Reclamation States know about them now.
***GOOD NEWS--Assistant Secretary Robert N Broadbent was confirmed by the
Senate. CONGRATULATIONS BOBI
***SecInt Wm Clark has appointed the special 12 member commission to
reexamine plans for the Garrison Diversion Unit in ND as required by Sec 207
of the FY' 85 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. Members of the
Commission are: David Treen, former Gov of LA, Chairman; Henry Bellmon, former
Sen from OK; Wm Ingersoll, senior partner in the law lirm of Ingersoll and
1984 CONVENTION, HYATT REC ARIZONA NOVEMBER 11-15
841165
Aas _ng-_on, DL; ike Livermore, a member of the CA Fish and Game Comm;
Dr J Gordon Milliken, senior research economist, Denver Res Inst; Patrick
Noonan, business executive in Washington, DC; Pat O 'Meara, Exec Vice Pres of
NWRA; John Paulson, Fargo, ND; Dr James G Teer, Natl Audobon Society Director,
Granger, TX; Henry Wassman, mayor of Grand Forks, ND; Dr John Whitaker,
Yarmouth , Nova Scotia, Under Secretary of the Int ' 73- ' 75 ; and Ann Zorn,
former member of the Nevada Environmental Commission, Las Vegas, NV.
The Commission will hold its first meeting in Washington, DC on August
30 , followed by project tours on Sept 5-6 , or Sept 13-14 . The extensive
evaluation of the Garrison Project and the report of the panel is scheduled to
be completed by Dec 31 .
***The National Wildlife Federation has filed suit against just about
everybody to force the administration to maintain the principles and standards
promulgated by the Water Resources Council pursuant to the Water Resources
Planning Act of 1965 . Names as defendants are Cabinet Secretaries William
Clark ( Interior ) , John Block (Agri ) , Don Hodel (Energy) , Samuel Pierce, Jr
(HUD ) , and Elizabeth Dole (Trans ) ; Administrator William Ruckelshaus of EPA,
Secretary of the Army John Marsh and Asst Secy Robert Broadbent.
The suit alleges that in supplanting the principles and standards with
the currently-in-place principles and guidelines, the officials have violated
the law.
***The Montana Supreme Court has recently held that where waters are
capable of recreation use they are considered navigable and, under the public
trust doctrine, the public has a right to access to them for recreational
use. The issue arose in a case in which a farmer put a fence across a stream
that flowed for 1 1/2 miles through his property and he wanted to prevent
fishing float trips . The farmer lost . The court said the public does not
have a right to trespass over private property to reach the navigable water
but where there are barriers in the river, the public is entitled to portage
around them in the least intrusive manner possible . The court made a
distinction between "navigability" for recreational use determinations and for
title determinations .
***In the last NWL we reported that a workshop on the Reclamation Reform
Act and the regs to implement it would be held in San Francisco on Sept
27-28 . In order to fit in with the scheduling of Asst Sec Robert Broadbent
and his crew, the dates have been changed to October 4-5 . The meeting will be
held in the Sheraton Inn-San Francisco Airport beginning at 1 p. m. on Oct 4
and running until 6 p . m. The purpose of that session will be to enable the
water users to sort out their problems and priorities . Mr. Broadbent and his
group will join the workshop on Friday morning at 9 'a.m. and continue until 1
p.m. No meals will be planned, and each individual will have to make his own
hotel arrangements . The Sheraton has set aside a bloc of rooms which may be
reserved by calling 415/342-9200 or 800/325-3535 . Be sure to identify
yourself as attending the NWRA meeting.
REGISTRATION FORM FOR RRA WORKSHOP
Name Phone /
Affiliation
Address City Zip
$75 Registration Fee Enclosed (Check payable to NWRA)
$75 Registration Fee To Be Paid in San Fran
Return to NWRA, 955 L ' Enfant Plaza, S .W. #1202, Washington, DC 20024
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