BOARD02475

• Board Meeting Date: 3/21/2002
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Works and counsel to the late Senator JohnH. Chafee (R-lP). From 1978 to 1981, he was a prosecuting
attorney in the Land and Natural Resources division oftheU.S. Department of Justice.

Farm Bill Update: On Feb. 13 the Senate passed the Farm Bill by a 58-40 vote, after modifying the Water .
Conservation Program (the so-called Reid Amendment, Section 215) and limiting its application to the states
of California, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Maine, Oregon and Washington. Under the new
amendment the federal government cannot buy or lease water rights. Senators modified the section after
concerns were expressed about whether the program woul\l be conducted pursuant to state laws; the
implications of federal ownership of water rights; and, the correct linkage between the Conservation Reserve
Program and the Endangered Species Act.

With respect to other programs, the Senate version authorizes $45 billion in new sending through 2006. The
House authorized $38 billion in new sending. The version contains $15 million for the EQIP On-Farm
Program that is designated specifically for Colorado River Salinity Control.

Grazing Water Rights: On Jan. 29 the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that a Nevada cattle rancher
owned the right to use water running across federal land. The rancher alleged his property rights were taken
when the U.S. Forest Service revoked his grazing permits and he was denied the use of rights-of-way. The
Forest Service argued that he exceeded his right ofreasomible maintenance as described in the Forest Service
Manual when he cleared trees in the permit area.

The court ruled that the Ditch Rights-of-Way Act of 1866 generally allows a 50-foot right-of-way on both
sides, rejecting the Forest Service's contention thatthe Forest Service Manual controls rights-of-way size.
The court found that the rancher's water rights predated the 1907 creation of the national forest and
therefore, he had has a vested right to continue to access tlJ.e water right.

Drought Grips Much of Country: The Associated Press has reported that drought has engulfed nearly a .
third of the U.S., threatening to confront some places this Snrnmer with what experts say could be their worst
water shortages in years.

. Drought specialists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)say some places in the East rnay face a
summer of water problems that rival record droughts of the 1960s. Southern California has only received
a third of its usual 11 inches of rain.
. The national Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center says drought has spread to about 30 percent of
the country. '
. On Jan. 1 reservoir storage in eleven western states w~s below average. Soil moisture profiles across the
West were short to very short.
. The U.S. Drought Monitor indicates that while much of the Northwest appears to be recovering from
drought, eastern Washington and Oregon are dry, as is Utah, Colorado, Arizona, western New Mexico,
and the High Plains. Moderate to severe drought conditions persist across Nevada, eastern Oregon, Idaho
and Oklahoma, with severe to extreme drought conditions in Montana, eastern Idaho, Wyoming and
West Texas. The Atlantic seaboard is also experiencing moderate to severe drought conditions, reaching
extreme levels in Maine, South Carolina and Georgia. iThe Palmer Drought Index shows similar trends.
. On Jan. I the National Water and Climate Center reported that mountain snowpack along the eastern
slope of the Rockies from Montana to New Mexico are below to well below average. The snowpack
improves as you move westward.
. On Jan. 29 the Western Regional Climate Center reported that snow water content was below to well
below average in the Four Corners states, Wyoming and eastern Montana, improving in western
Montana, Idaho and Nevada, and above average over most of Washington, Oregon and California.

During the 1930s Dust Bowl up to 70 percent ofthe country experienced drought conditions. .

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