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<br />Rocky '-1ountain N~ws
<br />
<br />Fri.. Feb, 22, 1991
<br />
<br />u.s. authorities rain
<br />on proposed water deal'
<br />
<br />Colorado and California'
<br />need federal approval;
<br />Brown and Campbell
<br />want more guarantees
<br />
<br />By John Brinkley
<br />! News Washington BureaN
<br />
<br />WASHINGTON - Any decision
<br />about water deliveries from Lake
<br />Mead to California are to be made .
<br />by the federal government,not by
<br />I. 'Gov. Roy Romer. a federal official
<br />, said yesterday.
<br />"There's no way the federal
<br />I government cannot be involved,"
<br />said Bill McDonald, assistant com-
<br />: missioner of the Interior Depart-
<br />i ment's Bureau' of Reclamation,
<br />"We're the ones that have to make
<br />the decisions about how much wa-
<br />ter is available and when and how
<br />it gets delivered - at Lake Mead,
<br />specifically, "
<br />Another Interior Department
<br />I official, speaking on condition that
<br />. he not be identified, said Romer
<br />I did not have the authority to prom-
<br />! ise California any water deliveries
<br />, (rom Lake Mead, which is down-
<br />stream from Colorado on the Ari-
<br />I zona-Nevada border,
<br />I However, neither he nor Mc-
<br />Donald said the government would
<br />
<br />not be ameaable to Romer's plan.
<br />U.S, Sen, Hank Brown, R-Colo"
<br />. said his principal concern was that
<br />Romer might give away Colorado
<br />water and never get it back.
<br />. U California does not guarantee
<br />Colorado credit against future wa-
<br />ter deliveries, "it means, in effect, .
<br />that we've 'forfeited that water,"
<br />Brown said.
<br />'Under the Colorado River com-
<br />pact, by which seven Western
<br />states share the rights to river
<br />water, Colorado and other upper
<br />basin states are obligated to pro-
<br />vide 'downstream states, such as
<br />California, with a minimum
<br />amount of water each year. .
<br />"By overdelivering this year,
<br />our hope would be to diminish the
<br />amount we have to deliver in the
<br />future," Brown said.
<br />Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell.
<br />D-Colo., put it more bluntly:
<br />"Cold cash for cold water -
<br />that's whai I want."
<br />Campbell said he liked the idea .
<br />. of extracting from California a rec.. .
<br />ognition of Colorado's right to .wa-
<br />ter that it doesn't put to beneficlal
<br />use, as is Romer's hope. But that
<br />in itself is not enough, .
<br />"There needs to be some finan-
<br />cial benefit to Colorado, not just a
<br />reaffirmation that we own it,"
<br />Campbell said.
<br />
<br />Calif. already gets extra water
<br />
<br />RIVER from 6
<br />
<br />Colorado would be hurt by this
<br />year's gift to California,
<br />But he acknowledged Califor-
<br />nia's woes won't go away in a year.
<br />I. Drought or no drought, Califor-
<br />, nia is growing by 30.0.,0.0.0. people
<br />,per year. A fam~y of four uses
<br />about I acre foot - 326,0.0.0. gal-
<br />lons - a year.
<br />And Arizona is about to open its
<br />Central Arizona project, which will
<br />I use 650.,0.0.0. acre feet yearly and
<br />bring that state closer to its Colo-
<br />Irado River entitlement,
<br />Romer hopes to link the deal to
<br />ICalifornia taking strong water con"
<br />servation measures, steps it has
<br />
<br />alreadJ'started,
<br />U,S, Rep, Ben Nighthorse
<br />Campbell, a Democrat- who repre-
<br />sents southern Colorado, last
<br />week proposed that the stat.e lease
<br />. the water to California,
<br />Romer prefers giving it away
<br />for two reasons:
<br />First, he believes a tighter guar'
<br />antee of perpetual Colorado water
<br />rights is more valuable than mon-
<br />ey, If lhe water is worth $150. an'
<br />acre foot, its ieasing could net .
<br />Colorado about $60. m~lion yearly.
<br />Second, he believes that treat-
<br />. ing Colorado River \Vater as a
<br />commodity - that is. leasing it -
<br />will tear asunder the guarantees of ..
<br />the 1922 compact. .
<br />
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