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<br /> <br />Page 1 of3 <br /> <br />WSW Issue #1679 <br /> <br />July 25,2006 <br /> <br />WESTERN STATES WATER COUNCIL <br />2006 Summer Meetings - Breckenridge, Colorado <br /> <br />The Council's 4151 Annual meetings were hosted by the State of Colorado in Breckenridge on July 19-21, at <br />the Beaver Run Resort. A letter from Dirk Kempthorne, former Governor of Idaho and a former U.S. Senator, <br />expressed his greetings and best wishes. He declared, "I know well from my previous work on water issues in the <br />West that the Council brings a sound perspective to policy development in these very important matters. I look <br />forward to further collaborating with the Council in my new position as Secretary of Interior." <br /> <br />Hal Simpson, Colorado State Engineer, was primarily responsible for meeting planning, which included an <br />informative tour that covered dredge and hard rock mining reclamation along the Blue River and interbasin water <br />development and transfers bringing West Slope water under the Continental Divide to the cities along the Front <br />Range. Members saw complex water collection systems of reservoirs, canals, pumps and pipelines, including <br />Lake Dillion, Windy Gap Reservoir, Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain Lake and Grand Lake, We appreciate Hal <br />and his staff's efforts. <br /> <br />Hal was also recognized for his work over the past two years as WSWC Chairman, with the presentation of an <br />engraved gavel. The Council unanimously elected Duane A. Smith, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Water <br />Resources Board as its new Chairman, with Garland Erbele, South Dakota's State Engineer as Vice-Chair. and <br />Weir Labatt, a member of the Texas Water Development Board. as Secretary-Treasurer. <br /> <br />The meetings began with an informal discussion of water needs and federal water programs that included <br />representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Services <br />Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of <br />Reclamation (BOR). The focus of the discussion was the Western Governors' Association (WGA) 2006 report, <br />Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future. prepared by the Council. The group also discussed the <br />Corps' Western Watersheds Study and Reclamation's Managing for Excellence effort, as well as USDA farm <br />conservation programs, particularly the use of FSA's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and <br />NRCS's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to promote sustainable agricultural water use and <br />mitigate supply shortages. USGS streamgaging programs were also mentioned. The Council will be preparing a <br />scope of work, prioritizing tasks and working to involve other stakeholders in implementation of the 28 <br />recommendations in the WGA report. A final scope of work should be completed by the Council's next meeting. <br /> <br />The Council's standing committees also met and discussed integrating their work plans to include the WGA <br />report recommendations, as well as many other topics. The Water Quality and Water Resources Committees met <br />jointly to discuss developments related to requiring (a 2nd Circuit Court decision) or not requiring (EPA <br />rulemaking) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for water transfers (WSW #1672 & <br />#1673). The Council later adopted a revised resolution generally supporting the Environ-mental Protection <br />Agency's (EPA) interpretation of the law, while also supporting the "use by a State of available authorities to <br />protect the water quality of the receiving water body in a water transfer." <br /> <br />The Water Quality Committee also discussed Good Samaritan legislation, which the Council and western <br />governors have long supported to limit the liability of groups interested in reclamation of abandoned mines in the <br />West. A bill (S. 2780) has been introduced in the Senate with the Administration's support and referred to the <br />Environment and Public Works Committee. An identical bill (H.R. 5404) has been introduced in the House and <br />jointly referred to the Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Energy and Commerce Committees. Roger <br />Gorke, EPA Office of Water, discussed a new Tribal Water Quality Council and Section 106 funding. Paul <br />Frohardt led a group discussion on effluent dependent or dominated waters. There was also a roundtable <br />discussion of current water quality priorities in each state. <br /> <br />http://www.westgov.org/wswc/1679.html <br /> <br />9/1212006 <br />