<br />Federal & Interstate Issues
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<br />NWRA in DC: Kent Holsinger and I attended the annual National Water Resources Meeting in Washington,
<br />D,C, in early February, While the general sessions were informative, the real value came from Congressional
<br />and Administration networking, We met with Interior officials about Black Canyon issues and Agriculture
<br />Department officials about reserved rights and wildemess issues, We discussed these issues with the staff of
<br />our congressional delegation as well.
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<br />Letter to McInnis: I have sent a letter to U,S, Rep Scott McInnis asking him to conduct a field hearing in
<br />Colorado about US, Forest Service Management practices, Data and studies indicate that current practices
<br />are limiting the amount of water available for beneficial use, Watershed management used to be a Forest
<br />Service management priority, Current practices are also leading to an increasing number of devastating
<br />wildfues,
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<br />FEMA Strategic Planning: Members of our staff were invited to attend a Federal Emergency Management
<br />Agency (FEMA) meeting to discuss revisions to its strategic plan, We were the only state in our region to
<br />bring written recommendations, We believe the time spent on this issue will have been productive, especially
<br />if we are able to secure some of the millions of dollars FEMA expects to spend on mapping and water-
<br />security in the coming years,
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<br />Meeting with Secretary Veneman: On Mar. 27 members of Colorado's agriculture community and I met
<br />with US, Agriculture Secretary Anne Veneman, Although most ofthe time was spent discussing specific
<br />agricultural issues, I did ask her to re-institute the so-called "Madigan Policy" regarding by-pass flows,
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<br />Reclamation Strategic Planning: On May 6 and 7 I took part in a "by invitation only" meeting with
<br />Reclamation officials to discuss strategic planning issues, I was among approximately 10 invited
<br />stakeholders, I told Reclamation officials that their Strategic Plan needs to ensure compliance with state law,
<br />interstate compacts and intemational treaties, I also urged Reclamation to work with more water project
<br />beneficiaries regarding the sale of Reclamation projects, A draft oftheir plan should be available for review
<br />in September.
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<br />BLM Launches Land Survey Information Web Site: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
<br />launched a new Land Survey Information web site, The web site, http://wvvw.geocommunicator.gov/lsi.is
<br />designed to provide geographic information from the BLM's Geographic Coordinate Data Base representing
<br />the Public Land Survey System of the U,S, The land survey data is a grid of geographic coordinates that are
<br />computed from BLM survey records, private survey records, and geodetic horizontal control information,
<br />The control data includes found comers digitized from USGS quadrangle Maps, Global Positioning System
<br />placements and published USGS triangulation station locations, Geographic coordinates are computed on a
<br />township basis, The township, sections, section subdivisions, and special surveys (such as tracts, mineral
<br />surveys, etc,) are represented, A land description is assigned as a label to each land unit.
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<br />National Water Policy: At our last meeting we reported on H,R, 3561, introduced by Rep, John Linder (R-
<br />GA), to create the Twenty-First Century Water Policy Commission, The bill has gathered ten cosponsors,
<br />including Rep, Ken Calvert (R-CA), Chairman ofthe House Resources Committee's Water and Power
<br />Subcommittee, Calvert intends to schedule a hearing in the near future,
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<br />Clean Water Act - Good Samaritan: On Mar. 21 US, Rep, Mark Udall introduced legislation to promote
<br />the cleanup of abandoned hardrock mines and improve water quality in waterways tluoughout the West.
<br />H,R, 4078, the Abandoned Hardrock Mines Reclamation Act of 2002, would remove some of the existing
<br />financial and liability obstacles that currently hinder mine cleanups,
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<br />One section of the bill creates a reclamation fee and a reclamation fund, The fee would only apply to mines
<br />with annual gross revenues in excess of $500,000, The estimate thus far is that the bill's fees would generate
<br />about $40 million, Another section of the bill creates a new permit program and a permittee would be
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