9367 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9367
• Author: Colorado Water Workshop.
• Title: Proceedings
• USFW Year: 1992.
• USFW - Doc Type: Colorado Water Workshop July 22-24, 1992.
• Copyright Material: NO

comply with the requirements of the Endangered Species Act.
Apart from the particulars of the Endangered Species Act, there
is, of course, widespread public interest in the environmental impacts
which major water resources developments have had over the years.
Thus, analysis such as the ongoing Glen Canyon Dam EIS, are being
undertaken to address issues concerning adjustments in reservoir
operations. Any effort to market water on an interstate basis, since
it will necessarily involve the operation of Federal reservoirs, will
have to address such concerns to the Federal Government's
satisfaction.

As I believe these remarks illustrate, propositions to move water
among the states will most assuredly involve the Federal Government.
Whether one views that as good or bad, it is nonetheless an
inescapable reality.
As populations continue to grow we face the very real prospect
that water shortages will become the norm rather than the exception.
The days of the status quo are over. Growing demands and shifting
priori ties will increasingly require our country's best technology and
innovation in water resource management.
As the Secretary of the Interior, Manuel Luan Jr. recently
stated, the Federal Government is committed to three principles:
(1) The states have the primary responsibility for determining
basic water rights and entitlement on the basis of beneficial use;
(2) The Federal agencies must carry out their mission as defined
by the statutes and the legal obligations expressed by court orders;
and,
(3) These governmental obligations must be carried out in an
environmentally sound manner.
Perhaps the most important thing that Secretary Luan stated was
that the best way that the difficult policy decisions facing
government can be met, as well as the critical challenges ahead, is
through cooperation and working partnerships among the Federal
Government, the states, water users, and concerned environmental fish
and wildlife interests. Partnerships directed toward meeting our
resource development, management and protection needs have already
demonstrated their usefulness. In the future, the necessity of such
partnerships will only become greater.
As we prepare to enter a new century we face new sets of
challenges: demographics, environmental considerations, drought and
competing interests all presenting a complex series of difficult
questions which must be addressed. These challenges are far beyond
the bounds of the Federal Government's ability to solve them alone.
But together, I have no doubt that we will be successful in passing
on to future generations what President Bush calls "A Better America" .

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