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Volume 9, No. 7
April 5, 1985
NATIONAL WATER LINE®
National Water Resources Association 955 L'Enfant Plaza, North Bldg., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20024 (202)488-0610
***It has been almost a year since Wm Gianelli
submitted his resignation as Assistant Secretary of
Army (Civil Works) to President Reagan. Since that
time , his deputy, Robert K . Dawson has served as
Acting Assistant Secretary. On April 2, the White
10 House finally named Dawson to fill the post and
00 sent his nomination to the Senate for confirmation.
The nomination will be considered by the Committee
on Armed Services . Letters supporting Dawson ' s
appointment should be sent to Sen Barry Goldwater,
Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, US Senate,
Washington, DC 20510 . No date has been set for the
confirmation hearing . A native of Alabama, Dawson received his Juris
Doctorate in 1971 from the Cumberland School of Law, Samford University,
Birmingham, AL. Beginning in 1972 , he served as Legislative Assistant to Rep.
Jack Edwards . From 1974 to 1981 he served as Administrator of the House
Committee on Public Works and Transportation . During part of that time Rep
Harold T . "Bizz" Johnson was Chairman of the Committee . From May 1981 to May
1984 he served as Principal Deputy to Assistant Secretary Gianelli . During
his tenure at the Pentagon, Dawson has worked diligently with Gianelli to
successfully streamline the cumbersom permit system under Sec 404 of the Clean
Water Act. Through these efforts, the average time to obtain a 404 permit has
been reduced from an average of 127 days down to 74 days .
***Rep Morris (Mo) Udall (AZ ) plans to introduce later today, the bill to
increase the authorization of the Reclamation Small Projects Act. A number of
members have agreed to co-sponsor this important legislation . We say
important , because loan applications now in the pipeline exceed the current
authorization. Details on the bill in the next issue of NWL.
***Negotiations between the Department of the Interior and officials of
the Westlands Water District in California have concluded with an agreement to
close Kesterson Reservoir expeditiously, to continue the planned delivery of
irrigation water on lands within Westlands, and to take important steps toward
a long-term solution to the drainage problems within the San Joaquin Valley.
In the Department announcement, Secretary Hodel said, "This agreement
will assure the closure of Kesterson Reservoir in a much shorter period of
time than if the Department had attempted to use its unilateral power and
authority under the law to resolve the issue . I have no doubt that any
attempt to act unilaterally would have resulted in protracted, divisive and
counter-productive litigation.
This consensus approach is the best way for the Department to fulfill its
missions both to protect the environment and to provide irrigation water which
is so essential to the agricultural community. "
The Secretary continued by saying, "I would like to summarize briefly the
essential points of this agreement . Westlands will be required to eliminate
the flow of drain waters into the San Luis Drain and Kesterson Reservoir. The
reduction of drain water will begin on or before September 30, 1985, and the
reduction will be phased to allow for development of alternative facilities ,
and Westlands is required to complete preparation of its preliminary plan for
alternative means of disposal by June 1 , 1985 .
Most importantly, under the agreement there will be a complete ter-
mination of drain water from Westlands into Kesterson after June 30, 1986 . "
Jerry Butchert , manager of the Westlands Water District said that the
closing of Kesterson Reservoir by the Department of the Interior was finally
"bringing this mess to an end . " While Westlands now inherits the problem,
Butchert said the District would be working over the next fifteen months on a
series of possible solutions to the problem including bird free ponds, salt
tolerant crops , recycling and, as a last resort stop gap measure, to block the
drains . During that same time period the District would be working with the
Bureau on long term solutions to meet future conditions . At the present time,
irrigation return flows are about 7 ,000 AF/year. Over the next 30 years, the
return flows will average nearly 80,000 AF annually as more and more irrigated
lands in the area require drainage systems . Butchert expressed his deep
1985 CONVENTION, SHERATON WAIKIKI, NOVEMBER 3-8
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throughout this difficult period . He said he was particularly grateful for
the time and effort devoted to the problem by Secretary Hodel and Solicitor
Richardson.
It was two weeks that seemed like an eternity to the farmers and
financial institutions in the San Joaquin Valley. When Secretary Hodel
announced the water cut-off on March 15, land value in the area fell to zero .
Both equity and security disappeared, but under the agreement now in place,
the financial catastrophe has been avoided and the situation generally has
returned to normal .
***We want to flag your attention to H.R. 1650 , which is a reintroduction
of last year ' s House-passed Safe Drinking Water Act legislation with the
controversial groundwater protection provisions , Sections 203 and 204
included. These sections authorize Federal intrusion into the rights of the
states to protect and manage their groundwaters.
While hearings were conducted last year on the Safe Drinking Water Act
legislation, Sections 203 and 204 were added to the bill after the hearings
were completed. As a result the Committee did not provide the State water
resource agencies , which are the most affected by these provisions , an
opportunity to comment . Nonetheless , the House approved the bill by an
overwhelming 366 to 27 . Fortunately, the bill did not clear the Senate before
the 98th Congress adjourned. No one wants to vote against clean water, nor to
favor dirty water , but Rep Howard Nielson (UT ) expressed the following
concerns about the bill : Both section 203 and 204 create broad new admin-
istrative authority over ground water. Section 203 would require the State to
"guarantee or provide for an alternative drinking water supply when an
underground source of drinking water is contaminated. " Such a guarantee would
require not only new regulatory programs at the State level but would force
the States to guarantee quantities of waters which in some States would be
extremely difficult and in other States , such as Utah , impossible to
guarantee . In addition, section 204 would enable the EPA to require any
person who contributed to the contamination of the ground water to pay the
entire cost of providing alternative water and might even be able to order
them to build an entire new public water system.
Another area of concern is that of costs . Although the Federal
expenditures appear modest several things must be noted. First, the combined
authorization expenditure for the two sections are $85 million a year for the
next 4 years , a significant first step. Second , it is possible and likely
that section 203 funding will be continued after the initial 4 years and that
section 204 funding will require large funding levels in order to complete all
the projects and plans that will need funding . Third, no one has estimated
the cost to the States as a result of these provisions . It seems irre-
sponsible to mandate a State program without asking for their input and
estimating the potential costs .
Hearings on H.R. 1650 will be set sometime after the Easter Recess .
***We had thought the Stockman proposal to merge the BuRec and COE had
been laid to rest because of the objections of Secs Clark and Weinberger, but
the issue is still simmering and further conversations between officials of
the two organizations on this subject are being scheduled. We hope that Sec
Hodel can find ample justification to support the position of his predecessor
-- if it ain' t broke, don' t fix it !
***It has been a busy two weeks as delegation after delegation visited
Washington to appear before the appropriations committee in support of
appropriations for their respective projects. We cannot list all those who
testified, but we warmly commend them for their dedication, and for the time
and effort they contribute to help assure the conservation, development and
wise use of our water resources .
***This is a final reminder of the upcoming Federal Water Seminar to be
held April 22-23 at the Capitol Holiday Inn in Washington, DC. Seating for the
breakfasts is limited so if you haven' t sent in your registration form to our
office , DO IT NOW! (We do have to give the hotel a guarantee. ) Don' t be left
out in the hall while everyone else is enjoying a first rate breakfast and
first class speakers . See you there ! !
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