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<br />OOl~97 <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />- 3 - <br /> <br />Babbitt said he intends to get a position from all 50 Governors on <br />the subject of groundwater and groundwater quality by the middle of <br />the summer. The subject then turned briefly to the question of the <br />Sporhase and EI Paso cases and how in fact that problem may be <br />considerably more serious than anything EPA is doing on the scene. <br />The Secretary then again complained to the Governors and was <br />critical of their failure to support him on his statement with EPA <br />and groundwater. The Secretary then stated that he wanted three <br />Governors, specifically Governor Olson, Governor Matheson, and <br />Governor Babbitt, to put together a coalition on the subject of <br />water project financing and water project cost-sharing. He said <br />that before we can get serious about such a coalition, it is <br />absolutely necessary to revisit the scope of all the projects, <br />specifically naming the Black Diamond Fork Project or element of the <br />Central Arizona Project. He wants smaller scale projects and <br />pointed with some pride at his success in having the Garrison <br />Project scaled down from a many-hundred million dollar project to a <br />lesser cost project. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Secretary then explained that it was simply <br />politically impossible for him to propose revisiting the size or <br />scope of projects. Although this needed to be done, the Governors <br />or the coalition would have to be the ones to act. Otherwise, he <br />said, it would appear to be another hit list and he would be <br />severely chastised in the press. He suggested that the Bureau would <br />be more than willing to look at the scope and size of the Animas and <br />La Plata and Narrows if we so wished. I did not comment on the <br />suggestion. <br /> <br />He then offered to again look at the size and scope of the <br />Central Arizona Project if Arizona wanted that. Having touched on <br />the subject of the Central Arizona Project, the Secretary explained <br />how he had helped put $10 million in the jobs bill for use on the <br />Central Arizona Project for construction of the Tucson Aqueduct, and <br />how he thought it was in fact important to get water out of the <br />Central Arizona Project in the 1985-87 tirneframe. However, he said <br />he would resist any commitments to "alternative six" until they <br />finish the other elements in the Central Arizona Project. <br /> <br />Having raised this spector of refusing to continue with a <br />seemingly important element of the Central Arizona Project, the <br />Secretary launched into a fairly long dialogue about how we cannot <br />afford to have ourselves fractionated between upper and lower <br />basins, east versus west, irrigators versus municipal users, et <br />cetera. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />At this point, Governor Babbitt seemingly had had enough <br />of this long monologue and he jumped into the conversation to say <br />