BOARD00054 ‎(2)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 11/13/2006
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Federal and Interstate

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Robert Johnson Now Reclamation Commissioner: On October 17, Robert Johnson became the 20th
person to lead Reclamation when he assumed his position as Commissioner. A career Reclamation
employee, Johnson most recently served as Reclamation's Lower Colorado Regional Director. .

Johnson joined Reclamation in 1975, beginning his career in the Mid-Pacific Region in Sacramento,
Calif. He has held several other leadership positions since then, including Deputy Regional Director,
Chief of Water, Land, and Power Operations Division in the Lower Colorado Region, and a management
position in the Commissioner's Office in Washington, D.C.

EPA Issues Underground Drinking Water Protection Rule: On October 12 the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) published a "Ground Water Rule" targeting utilities that provide water from
underground sources that and requires greater vigilance for potential contamination by disease-causing
microorganisms.

The Ground Water Rule and more information about drinking water can be found at
www.epa.gov/safewater/disinfectionlgwr

Watchdog Group Criticizes Interior Department Strategic Plan: The proposed new U.S. Interior
Department "strategic plan" touts scientific integrity as one of its comerstones, but a government
watchdog contends that Interior managers manipulate technical data and fmdings for political reasons.
The criticism is expressed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

The principal official responsible for the devel~pment of the five-year Strategic Plan is Paul Hoffman, a
former Dick Cheney aide who serves as Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Performance,
Accountability, and Human Resources. Up until this March, however, Hoffman had a comparable
position overseeing the National Park and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services.

According to PEER, in that previous slot, Hoffman repeatedly ordered scientific documents to be
rewritten. Most notably, last year Hoffman prepared a rewrite of all National Park Service management
policies that caused a furor for proposing to subordinate the conservation mission of parks to public
"enjoyment." In the draft, Hoffman removed all references to evolution from the management policies.
The controversial rewrite was eventually rejected by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.

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Interior's draft strategic plan remained subject to public comment through October 23,2006.

Ditch BiD Update - In our continuing effort to keep the Board apprised of the progress by the U.S. Forest
Service on the issuance of Ditch Bill Easements and the issues surrounding this task the following
information was provided by Jeffery Ulrich, R-2 Ditch Bill Coordinator. If you have questions regarding
this information, please contact Jeffery Ulrich at:

Jeffery L. Ulrich
R-2 Ditch Bill Coordinator
740 Simms Street
Golden, CO 8040 I
303-275-5091
i [e-mail]

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