PUB00146 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Western States Water Council Executive Committee Minutes Seattle, Washington July 14, 2005 . the HighPlains Aquifer; position 240, a letter expressing concerns with S. 1961, the Water Investment Act of 2002; position 241 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Reclamation Act; position 242 commemorating 2002 as the "Year of Clean Water;" position 244, a letter written to then Administrator Whitman regarding promulgation of TMDL rules; position 245 in the form of a letter regarding draft legislation developed byWESTCAS; and the Council's revised position regarding reauthorization of the Clean Water Act, position 246, should all be allowed to sunset. The Executive Committee will recommend that Position 243, reaffirming the Council's position regarding water efficiency standards for plumbing products, should be readopted. Chairman Simpson solicited a motion to allow the aforementioned positions 239-242, and 244-246 be allowed to sunset, and to readopt Position 243. The motion was seconded, and approved. WATER DATA COLLECTION AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS WORKSHOP RECOMMENDATIONS Chairman Simpson reported that the workshop held this morning on Water Data Collection and Management Programs was very informative. The group decided they would welcome a side-by-side comparison of various program costs versus USGS. Duane suggested that at the appropriate time, each . state should send letters to their own state delegations on the importance of the cooperative program. We need to find a champion. It was noted during the workshop that Senator Hutchison of Texas could be a potential champion. Weir will pursue this issue with the Senator. Duane Smith commented that Craig had sent out a letter. Duane recrafted the letter from his state and sent it in support of USGS. Bob Hirsch emailed Duane two days later and thanked him for the letter. Bob is definitely on top of this particular issue and the letters we send are getting to him and he's making sure that the letters get around. The comments Duane gets back from Senator Inhofe's office is that there is not enough support for the streamgaging for them to say this is a great thing. They have suggested to Duane that all of the states write all of their delegations, and so Duane encouraged everyone to send a letter to your individual state delegation. Hal pointed out that ICWP has approached the Council about having some discussions in San Antonio. We could possibly talk about a joint effort. Sue Lowry noted that ICWP has been going through a reorganization phase. One of the items that Peter Evans completed with part of his contract with ICWP was an analysis of how to reorganize and the issues where ICWP could make a difference. In so doing, Peter Evans thought that some sort of interaction between the ICWP board and the Executive Committee of Western States Water Council would be a good idea. ICWP is in agreement that the timing was good to meet in San Antonio. They may suggest a meeting on Tuesday evening. Certainly streamgaging is an issue that is of importance, not only to western states, but to states across the country. Do Executive Committee members feel this is a good use of your time in San Antonio? Sue Lowry is a member of the ICWP and will act as a liaison between the Council and the ICWP. Only a nod of approval is needed today. ICWP sees three main places the Board is going to focus: Corps of Engineers, reauthorization and Corps reforms; streamgaging issues; and drought issues. . 6