1998 Work Plan of the Western States Water Council

Home Browse Search

Work t date: The Annual WSWC Water Management Symposium has traditionally been held under t auspices of the Executive Committee. However, the Committee has asked one of the other c ittees to take the lead. Thus, over the years 1991 -1993, given the fact that the subject was de ted to the negotiated settlement of Indian water right claims, the lead responsibility for putting he symposium together was delegated to the Legal Committee. In 1993, a decision was made t t a symposium on Indian right settlements should be deferred until September 1995. For 199 , the Council chose an alternative topic for its water management symposium, namely, the End#ngered Species Act and Western Water Management. In 1995 we went back to the subject of negotiated Indian water right settlements in the form of a symposium cosponsored by the Native American Rights Fund. Although the 1995 symposium was suc essful, the pace of settlements is such that a 1996 meeting on the same subject would likely hi Lve been redundant. Therefore, another subject was pursued; namely, state progr s /approaches to address non -point source pollution. Given tfie continued interest by previous attendees and also anticipated activities by the WGA within t e context of the Ad Hoc Group on Indian Water Rights, pursuant to a WGA resolution, to reinv gorate the process for facilitating negotiated settlements, and the fact that the Native Americ Rights Fund had expressed its interest in cosponsoring another symposium, the Council determined to hold another symposium on Indian water rights. It was held in Phoenix, Arizon in October, 1997 and included a session on water quality concerns primarily revolving around ection 518 of the Clean Water Act. Given toe fact that the Ad Hoc Group is planning a congressional workshop in 1998, another topic will be the focus of the fall symposium; namely, the Endangered Species Act. Three years ago, the Council held a symposium on reforms in implementing the Endangered Species Act. This symposium was cosponsored by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, as well as the Western Governors' Association. The symposium was preceded by a report oi i challenges which the Act represented for western water resource management, prepared by WS C staff. These efforts led to further evaluation and activity under the auspices of the WGA, 1hich in turn produced proposed amendments to the law. ESA re thorization continues to be on the Congressional agenda. At the same time, several reforms ave been initiated during the last three years. For example, the "Safe Harbor" initiative allows a Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service, in cooperation with ap ropriate state agencies and tribal governments, to provide property owners with certain assuran es in return for voluntarily entering into an agreement enhancing the recovery of the listed s cies. A "no surprises" policy was formalized with the purpose of ensuring landowners who cor iply in good faith with an endangered species habitat conservation plan that they will not later be equired to provide additional land or financial compensation. At the same time, various P