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DAM-L Enviro Groups Call for Investigation of A-LP, Reform of Reclamation(fwd)
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Subject: Enviro Groups Call for Investigation of A-LP, Reform of Reclamation
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 14:58:13 -0600
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From: David Orr Jr <david@drainit.org>
To: David Orr Jr <david@drainit.org>
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_________________________________________
News from...
L I V I N G R I V E R S
PO Box 466 ? Moab, UT 84532
435-259-1063 ? fax 259-7612
______________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 18, 2001
CONTACT: John Weisheit or David Orr 435-259-1063
CITING ANIMAS-LA PLATA PROJECT AS A "DINOSAUR," GROUPS CALL FOR
INVESTIGATION OF PROJECT'S ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CALL ON RECLAMATION COMMISSIONER TO REFORM AGENCY
DURANGO, COLORADO, June 18 -- On the 99th anniversary of the passage of
the federal Reclamation Act, a coalition of fifteen regional grassroots
environmental, agricultural and citizens organizations sent a letter to
Acting Commissioner of Reclamation J. William McDonald, calling on him to
lead the Bureau of Reclamation in a new, environmentally sound direction
as the agency approaches its centennial celebration next year.
*** Full text of groups' letter attached below ***
The groups also called for an investigation by the agency of apparent
economic improprieties and environmental damage caused by the recently
authorized Animas-La Plata (A-LP) project in southwestern Colorado and
northwestern New Mexico. The Bush Administration recently recommended a
multimillion-dollar appropriation for the project that would divert large
amounts of water from the Animas River into a proposed off-stream
reservoir near Durango.
The letter is the first in a series that will highlight outdated and
environmentally harmful programs and activities of the Bureau of
Reclamation, the groups said.
"As we near the end of a century of Reclamation's public works, we look
around us and see dams, ditches, and dewatered rivers across the West,"
said John Weisheit, Conservation Director of Living Rivers, based in
Moab, Utah. "The agency has to turn around and begin restoring the
natural beauty and ecological functioning of the rivers of the West."
Environmental groups from around the Four Corners region joining with
Living Rivers in signing the letter to Acting Commissioner McDonald
include: Animas River Agriculture Irrigators Association, Cedar Hill
Clean Water Coalition, Citizens Progressive Alliance, Colorado Public
Interest Research Group, electors Concerned about Animas Water, Forest
Conservation Council, Forest Guardians, Four Corners Action Coalition,
Friends of the Animas River, Glen Canyon Action Network, San Juan Audubon
Society, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Sheep Mountain Alliance, and
Taxpayers for the Animas River.
"The Animas-La Plata project is a dinosaur," said Philip Doe, chairman of
the Citizens Progressive Alliance and a retired policy officer with the
Bureau of Reclamation. "The bad planning, bad economics, and lack of
concern for the environment that characterize this half-billion dollar
boondoggle should move the Bureau and Congress to conduct a full
investigation before a single yard of dirt is ever moved."
In their letter, the groups cited the apparent lack of uses or need for
the Animas River water to be diverted by the proposed A-LP project. The
withdrawal of significant amounts of water from the river will adversely
affect recovery of endangered fish species in the San Juan River,
downstream of the project. The Animas is one of the last free-flowing
rivers in the region.
"The A-LP is just another big government pork-barrel, only worse," said
Weisheit. "We hope the Commissioner will agree that Reclamation's
reputation and future are on the line with this project."
The groups' letter represents the beginning of a grassroots movement to
reform the Bureau of Reclamation.
# # #
For more information on the Animas-La Plata project:
electors Concerned about Animas Water's A-LP Central home page:
http://www.angelfire.com/al/alpcentral/
Sierra Club A-LP home page:
http://www.colorado.sierraclub.org/alp/
Bureau of Reclamation A-LP home page:
http://www.uc.usbr.gov/special/alp/
Co-signing organizations' websites:
Living Rivers
http://www.livingrivers.net/
Colorado Public Interest Research Group
http://www.copirg.org/
Forest Conservation Council
http://www.forestconservation.org/
Forest Guardians
http://www.fguardians.org/
Glen Canyon Action Network
http://www.drainit.org/
San Juan Citizens Alliance
http://www.sanjuancitizens.org/
Sheep Mountain Alliance
http://telluride2.com/colorado/Sheep-Mountain-Alliance.htm
-----------------------------------
- TEXT OF GROUPS' LETTER -
-----------------------------------
Mr. J. William McDonald
Acting Commissioner
US Bureau of Reclamation
Department of Interior
1849 'C' Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240-0001
sent via fax: 202-513-0314
June 18, 2001
Dear Commissioner McDonald:
This week marks the ninety-ninth anniversary of the passage of the
federal Reclamation Act, and the creation of the Reclamation Service,
later to become known as the Bureau of Reclamation. One year from
now?June 17, 2002?will mark the centennial of the law that led to a
dramatic transformation of the rivers and landscapes of the American
West.
This letter is a request for action. The many pressing problems
besetting the rivers of this region deserve the full attention of the
Bureau of Reclamation. Our fifteen environmental, agricultural and
citizens organizations, listed below, respectfully request your personal
intervention and commitment to changing Reclamation's priorities to
reflect the changing needs of our society, and the needs of the rivers
themselves.
Today more than 450 Reclamation dams and diversions stand across our
Western rivers in seventeen states, creating about 350 reservoirs that
provide water for 180 irrigation projects and water supply for more than
30 million people. These structures and engineering achievements, some of
which are among the largest in the world, store huge amounts of water and
generate over forty thousand megawatts of electric power, combined. Over
nine million acres of farmland are irrigated by Reclamation projects. The
scope and magnitude of the public works undertaken by Reclamation is
unsurpassed in terms of the effects these projects have had on the lives
of the millions of people who depend in some way on the rivers of this
arid region.
Certainly many associated with the Bureau of Reclamation will find cause
for celebrating the upcoming centennial. But for those committed to the
sound stewardship of the Colorado and other rivers of the West, the
sentiment is reversed. This century of impounding and diverting has
brought with it extensive environmental and social problems that continue
to worsen. Western rivers are critical to the protection of biological
diversity in this arid region. Scientists tell us that many Reclamation
projects are at least partly to blame for the near-extinction of many
native fish and other river-dependent species across the West. Pressure
is building to take down Reclamation dams in some places, to restore
rivers' ecological health, and recover populations of native fish and
river-dependent wildlife.
The organizations listed below join together in marking the culmination
of this "Reclamation Century," by calling on the Bureau of Reclamation to
acknowledge the harm that its projects have often caused, and dedicate
itself to making river restoration, not exploitation, the agency's focus
in the years ahead.
A century later, the agency finds itself facing declining budgets,
increasing pressure to reduce the subsidies to water users that have
fueled the engine of political support for much of the Bureau's public
works. Reclamation itself has said, "the arid West essentially has been
reclaimed." Yet some politicians still look to Reclamation to fulfill the
elusive dream of boundless resource use.
To that end, we come to the first point of grave concern to which we wish
to draw your attention: the Animas-La Plata (A-LP) Project in
southwestern Colorado. This environmentally destructive scheme is an
economic boondoggle that will cost federal taxpayers hundreds of millions
of dollars with few benefits. Environmental advocates and others have
been engaged for more than a decade in an effort to protect the Animas
River from this dinosaur project.
A brief summary of the problems with the A-LP reveals an unsettling
picture. If it were built, the project would:
o Divert one of the region?s last free-flowing rivers, and inundate a
productive refuge for wildlife at a cost of $340 million dollars or more;
o Reduce flows in an already heavily depleted San Juan River system,
placing additional pressure on the endangered native fish and other
river-dependent species in the basin; and
o Provide taxpayer-subsidized water for as-yet unidentified and unneeded
development projects, only adding to the Bureau's "pork-barrel" legacy.
Therefore:
We the undersigned citizen groups call on you to recognize the
seriousness of the Animas River's plight, and we ask you to seek funding
from the Administration and the Congress to prepare a report
investigating the environmental and economic concerns that have been
raised by citizen groups about the project. We ask that you oppose
appropriating any funding for project construction pending the outcome of
these studies.
We also ask that you consider Reclamation's future direction, and the
benefits of shifting the agency's mission from development to
restoration. Return the agency to its roots as a supporter of small
family farms, not a subsidizer of globalized corporate agribusiness. Add
an essential component to Reclamation's mission--to become a protector
and defender of the environmental quality and health of river ecosystems.
Over the coming year, our organizations will be communicating with you on
a regular basis about a number of other issues and concerns that warrant
corrective action by your agency.
The polices that govern Reclamation's actions, as well as those set by
the Bureau itself, are out-of-step with the environmental constraints and
social demands of this modern era. Too many dams have been built across
the over-allocated rivers of the West, and too much water is being
diverted from them. Outdated laws discourage water users from conserving,
and stand in the way of restoring water flows to stressed streambeds. The
dried-up Colorado River delta in Mexico bears silent testimony to
Reclamation's failure to steward properly the rivers it has developed.
Our organizations look forward to working with you to bring about
long-needed changes at the Bureau of Reclamation. In the coming year, we
will be sharing more of our concerns with you in the spirit of a frank
and open dialogue. Please feel free to call upon us for consultation at
any time. But please also understand that the rivers of the West can't
survive much longer the bureaucratic inertia and neglect that has
characterized Reclamation's first century. If the agency is unwilling to
change, then we will feel compelled to work in a more adversarial mode to
impose change on the agency, for the sake of rivers and the people and
other life that depends upon them.
Sincerely,
John Weisheit
Conservation Director
Living Rivers
Moab, Utah
on behalf of the following organizations:
Orion Utton
Animas River Agricultural Irrigators Assn.
Aztec, New Mexico
Philip Doe, Chairman
Citizens Progressive Alliance
Denver, Colorado
Jacob Hottell, Chairman
Cedar Hill Clean Water Coalition
Aztec, New Mexico
Matt Baker, Executive Director
Colorado Public Interest Research Group
Denver, Colorado
Steve Cone, Director
electors Concerned about Animas Water
Farmington, New Mexico
John Talberth, Executive Director
Forest Conservation Council
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Susan Tixier, Executive Director
Forest Guardians
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Carl Weston, Vice-President
Four Corners Action Coalition
Bondad, Colorado
Nancy Jacques, President
Friends of the Animas River
Durango, Colorado
David Orr, Field Program Director
Glen Canyon Action Network
Moab, Utah
Jean Lyle, President
San Juan Audubon Society
Durango, Colorado
Mark Pearson, Executive Director
San Juan Citizens Alliance
Durango, Colorado
Joan May, Executive Director
Sheep Mountain Alliance
Telluride, Colorado
Michael Black, Spokesman
Taxpayers for the Animas River
Durango, Colorado
_________________________________
David Orr <david@drainit.org>
Director of Field Programs
Glen Canyon Action Network
A Project of Living Rivers
PO Box 466, Moab UT 84532
Tel 435.259.1063/Fax 435.259.7612
www.drainit.org -and- www.livingrivers.net
Rivers Need Water Rights Too!
Drain 'Lake' Powell Reservoir!
----- End of forwarded message from David Orr Jr -----