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<br />166 J. ENERGY, NAT. RESOURCES, & ENVTL. L. [Vol. 13
<br />
<br />Dams-some of the largest manmade structures on the Earth. As of
<br />1987 the Bureau had spent $9.4 billion (unadjusted for inflation) to
<br />build 3554 storage reservoirs, 254 diversion dams, 15,853 miles of
<br />canals, 1376 miles of pipeline, 37,263 miles oflateraIs and 17,002 miles
<br />of drainpipes and canals.28 These structures serve about 25 million
<br />people and deliver water to about twenty-three percent of the irrigated
<br />land in the United States,29
<br />The Bureau's fundamental priority has always been the develop-
<br />ment of water resources to promote the settlement of the West.
<br />Originally, the Bureau's only mission was to develop agricultural water
<br />supplies.so Later amendments to the Reclamation Act of 1902 autho-
<br />rized municipal and industrial supplies and hydroelectric generation as
<br />secondary priorities.3l Recreation and the preservation offish and
<br />wildlife have the lowest priority.32 Today, many critics charge that the
<br />Bureau has fulfilled its mission of promoting the settlement of the West
<br />and that further federal water development conflicts with the nation's
<br />fiscal realities and environmental ethic." Mounting political pressure
<br />has forced the Bureau to make some public indications of change. For
<br />example, the Bureau recently issued an updated implementation plan
<br />declaring it intends to overhaul its policies and change its priorities."
<br />In 1989 the Bureau finally produced its "water transfer policy," suggest-
<br />ing that it "can assist" voluntary transfers of water." In addition, the
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<br />" REISNER & BATES, .upra note 10, at 2Eh'l0 (citing 1 BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, U,S, DEP'T
<br />OF THE INTERIOR, 1987 SUMMARY STATISTICS).
<br />"Id.
<br />III Reclamation Act of 1902, t Ii He alBo Richard Roos-Collins, Voluntary Conveyance of 1M
<br />Right /0 1/eceilJO a Waler Supply from the Unit<<t Slate. Bureau of Reclamation, 13 EcoLOGY
<br />L.Q. 773, 788-89 (1987).
<br />Il See Roo.-Collins, .upro note 30, at 789-98.
<br />.. In the Water Project Recreation Act of 1965, 16 U.S,C. 0 4601-12 to -21 (1988), Congresa
<br />directed that water projects be .constructed, operated, and maintained- for recreation and
<br />wildlife enhancement purposes, whenever the project -can reasonably serve either or both of .
<br />theae purposes CODSu,tently" with the Act's provisions for recovery of federal expenditures. Id.
<br />t 460/-12.
<br />.. 8ft, e.g., Henry P. Caulfield, Jr., Lor. Dismantle (Largely but Not Fully) the Federal Waler
<br />Re.oun:e [)elJOlopment E.lablishment: The Apostasy of a Long.ianding Waler [)elJOlopment
<br />Federalist, in WATER NEEDS FOR nD! F'tJTuRE: PoLITICAL, EcONOMIC, LEoAL AND TEcHNOLOGI-
<br />CAL IssuEs IN A NATIONAL AND iNTERNATIONAL FRAMEwORK 171, 174 (Ved p, Nanda ed., 1977)
<br />(suggesting decentralization of water development projects).
<br />.. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, U.S. DEP'T OF THE INTERIOR, iMPLEMENTATION !'LAN: UPDATE
<br />'891.
<br />. In March 1989 the Bureau promulgated a policy statement entitled -Voluntary Water
<br />Transactions Criteria and Guidance,- This policy statement is reprinted in REISNER & BATES.
<br />.upra note 10, app, B at 170--78.
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