Board Meeting 05/03/1985

• Board Meeting Date: 5/3/1985
• Description: Minutes, Agenda, Memorandums May 3, 1985
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

The objective of both efforts is to seek ways which will •
meet the requirements of the Act without conflicting with state
water rights systems and the use of water apportioned to a state
pursuant to interstate compacts and decrees of the U.S. Supreme
Court. It is also intended that reasonable and prudent
alternatives be identified which will minimize the use of water.
Such measures may include habitat acquisition, management, and
maintenance, artifical propagation (e.g. , through hatcheries ) ,
legally appropriate uses of federal reservoirs, reduced planting
of competing exotic sport fishes, and others which can be
effected to the benefit of the species without impairing
beneficial uses of water under state law.
Both efforts are premised upon a willingness to try to avoid
conflicts between the Endangered Species Act and the exercise of
vested state water rights. We support these efforts because we
do not believe that protracted litigation in an adversarial
climate would be to anyone 's benefit and because we are sincerely
hopeful that the ongoing administrative efforts will indeed prove
to be fruitful. If the involved parties will start from the
premise that both the requirements of the Endangered Species Act
and state water laws and compact entitlements can each be fully
protected, we believe that the problems of the past several years
can be resolved.
We regard these efforts as well within the scope of the Act
and the discretion which it provides to the Secretary of the •
Interior, particularly in light of the directive of section
2(c) (2) . This section states that it is the "policy of Congress
that federal agencies shall cooperate with state and local
agencies to resolve water resource issues in concert with
conservation of endangered species . "
We respectfully request that Congress give recognition to
the on-going administrative efforts described above and direct
the Secretary of the Interior to report back to it in the context
of a review and reauthorization of the Act two years from now in
order to insure that every reasonable effort has been made to
administer the Act in a manner which resolves the problems which
have been encountered. In the event that the current efforts are
unsuccessful, then Congress should deal with necessary
amendments. It may also be that the solution to which the
involved parties will hopefully come over the course of the next
two years will require a legislative confirmation in order to be
properly implemented. For these reasons, reauthorization of the
Act at this time should be for only two years.
We believe that the efforts to find administrative solutions
are reasonable and responsible ones which bear the support of
this committee. We ask that you express that support by
reviewing the Act 's administration at the end of a two-year
reauthorization period.
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