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<br /> <br />THE <br /> <br />P H 0 <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />x <br /> <br />~p- <br /> <br />P.M. + <br />Wednesday <br />July 20, 19!'J4 <br />~ 1994, THE PHOENIX GAZETTE <br />Volume 114, Number 228 <br /> <br />Ariz. water rights threatened <br />by U.S. plan, governor claims <br />State warns Interior Department it'll sue over proposal <br /> <br />By Michael Murphy <br />THE PHOENL'{ GAZETI'E <br /> <br />Warning that Arizona's supply of Colo- <br />rado River water is in jeopardy, Gov. Fife <br />Symington has threatened to sue Interior <br />Secretary Bruce Babbitt over proposed <br />federal water regulations. <br />In a letter delivered Tuesday to Babbitt, <br />Symington said the proposed rules are a <br />threat to Arizona's historic allocation of <br />Colorado River water, which state water <br /> <br />. WATER <br /> <br />water to central and southern <br />Arizona, <br />Also, Arizona's congressional <br />delegation last week asked Bab- <br />bitt, a former Arizona governor, to <br />withdraw the regulations. <br />Issued in May, the proposed <br />rules seek to strengthen federal <br />administration of the lower Colo- <br />rado River, and to eliminate pro- <br />hibited uses of river water. Sy- <br />mington fears the rules would <br />allow individuals to market Ari- <br />zona's allocation of Colorado River <br />watar to users in other states. <br />A Babbitt spokesman was un- <br /> <br />ing fmal rules. <br />"Arizona has to quit being quite <br />so parochial when it comes to <br />water," Peters said. ((Colorado <br />River water does not belong exclu- <br />sively to Arizona, nor to Califor- <br />nia, nor to Nevada, and all three <br />states need to work together." <br />Yet Symington fears the pro- <br />posed regulations, issued in May, <br />represent an attempt by the Clin- <br />ton administration to "declare war <br />on the West" by interfering with <br />historic water agreements. <br />Under a 1922 compact, Arizona <br />gets 2.85 million acre-feet of Colo- <br /> <br />officials maintain is crucial to growth. <br /> <br />Symington said that if the regulations <br />become final, the state, the Central <br />Arizona Water Conservation Districc and <br />Arizona cities dependent on Colorado <br />River water "will have no choice but to <br />challenge these regulations in federal <br />court. H <br /> <br />The district oversees the Central Ari- <br />zona Project, which brings Colorado River <br />See .WATER, Page A4 <br /> <br />available fGr comment, but a local <br />environmental activist called Sy- <br />mington's threat of legal action <br />political grandstanding. <br />"The actual rules and regula- <br />tions won't come out for eight <br />months," sail Gail Peters, Arizona <br />director of American Rivers. "No- <br />body's happy with the whole thing, <br />but nobody wants to throw the <br />whole thing away," <br />Peters said Babbitt and other <br />Interior Department officials are <br />attempting to develop consensus <br />among California, Nevada and <br />Arizona water officials before issu- <br /> <br />From A 1 <br /> <br />rado River water annually; Cali- <br />fornia gets 4.4 million acre-feet <br />and Nevada gets 300,000 acre-feet. <br />Nevada is attempting to in- <br />creaseits allocation, a move that <br />Symington and others fear could <br />jeopardize Arizona's supply. <br />Symington and delegation mem- <br />bers said the proposed regulations, <br />which would establish an inter- <br />state water marketing program <br />administered by the Bureau of <br />Reclamation, would interfere with <br />proposals by Arizona and Nevada <br />to increase Nevada's share of <br />Colorado River water. <br /> <br />l\. <br />~ <br />0) <br /> <br />-I <br /> <br />