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- Y <br /> March 20, 2001 <br /> The Honorable Ann Veneman <br /> Secretary <br /> United States Department of Agriculture <br /> Fourteenth and Independence Avenue, S.W. • <br /> Washington, D.C. 20250 <br /> RE: Review of Forest Service Position on Water Bypass Flows <br /> Dear Secretary Veneman: <br /> I am writing to bring to your attention a serious issue which has persisted at the Forest <br /> Service as it relates to water bypass flows. <br /> Since approximately 1990, the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, <br /> has attempted to use federal land use permitting authority to require that the owners of existing <br /> water supply facilities located on National Forest lands relinquish a part of the water supply that <br /> would otherwise be provided from these facilities. While this controversy originated in <br /> Colorado, information provided to a congressional Task Force convened in 1997 revealed that <br /> conflicts with the Forest Service exist in other states in the West, including Montana, Arizona, <br /> Idaho and Nevada. <br /> In the closing months of the Clinton Administration, the Forest Service once again <br /> announced its intent to require water"bypass flows" for existing water facilities. This issue is of <br /> great importance to the West, as bypass flow requirements are used to take water that is owned <br /> by cities and farmers without compensation, notwithstanding the fact that the Task Force found <br /> that Congress has not delegated this authority to the Forest Service. <br /> I am requesting that you reinstate the historical policy of the Department, that the Forest <br /> Service may not impose water"bypass flows"upon the holders of the land use authorizations for <br /> existing ditches, reservoirs, and other pipeline facilities, and direct that the Regions and the <br /> Office of the General Counsel follow this policy in all Forest Plans and other decisions. <br /> As you know, I have been involved with the debate over the attempts by the Forest <br /> Service to assert federal permitting authority over historical use for quite sometime now. The <br /> United States Congress has tal: n, and will continue to take an active role in monitoring how the <br /> Forest Service goes about obtaining water from Colorado water users. The Federal Water Rights <br />