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ENERGYIWATER RESOURCES Bureau of Reclamation With Hoover Dam as the setting, on January 21, Interior Secretary Manual Lujan released the report Hvdropower 2000: Reclamation's Enerav Initiative. Hoover Dam spans the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada. Its powerplant includes 19 un~s generating 19,030 megawatts of electricity. It was built and is operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, which is the nation's 11th largest electric power producer. Hvdropower 2000 Is Reclamation's plan to manage future energy development and use. According to Commissioner Dennis Underwood, its critical components are 'efficiency and operational ,Improvements,' water ,a'nd ,energy conservation, :addltlonal generating capacity, Increased erivlronmental compatibility, research programs and technology transfer, and financing and cost recovery,' Interior Secretary Lujan said hydropower is an essential part of a comprehensive national energy strategy. While ~ generates only about 13% of the nation's total electricity, in the western United States it accounts for 42%, 'As a renewable, reliable, and cost effective energy source, hydropower has many benef~s over other energy sources. Reclamation is at the center of the hydropower industry, operating dams and power plants across the western United States and examining ways to improve hydropower efficiency and' use.' Since 1902, Reclamation has Invested over $16B In water and power facilities. Power revenues total about $700M annually and have repaid over $6B to the federal treasury. Reclamation can help the nation meet its present and future energy needs in an environmentally acceptable manner, according to the reporl, which s(jts.Jorth tl;1!il str,~t!lgles tlJat Reclam~tion will pursue ar.jdJllvites public participation. For more information, write the Bureau of Reclamation, Hvdropower 2000 Partnerships, Box 25007, Denver, Colorado 80225. For copies call (303) 236-6742 or FTS 776-6742, ENVIRONMENT Environmental Protection Agency In an article ent~led, 'Taking Aim Toward 2000: Re-Thinking the Nation's Environmental., Agenda,' Administrator William Reilly addresses the need to change EPA's approach to environmental protection. 'The nation's environmental laws depend on . command-and-control approaches.... It Is becoming Increasingly clear that In a number of areas these approaches have taken us about as far as they efficiently can. Further incremental pollution reductions are frequently Iim~ed In scope and very expensive,.., But the use of incentives which work with rather than against the market, policies that leave industry with greater discretion to choose the means to achieve ends determined by government - to redesign processes, to substitute new, less polluting materials or fuels, to recapture and reuse pollutants - these represent the promising new directions that can achieve great gains in the most cost-effective way.... Government fully as much as industry needs to experiment with some new ways of doing business even as we continue to enforce the laws vigorously and consistently.' (Environmental Law, Vol, 21, No.4, Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College) WATER RESOURCES National Water Policy The Interstate Council on Water Policy, together w~h the American Water Resources Association, . Western Governors Association, Western States Water Council and Fresh Water Foundation, will sponsor a National Water Policy Roundtable on February 18-20, In Washington D,C, at the Quality Hotel Capitol Hill. The Roundtable will explore the need for national water policy reform and the setting of a national water policy agenda. The Roundtable is an opportunity for water managers and other professionals, from both the public and private sectors, to critically evaluate existing obstacles to integrated water management and collaborate on an agenda for policy reform. The Roundtable will begin with a discussion of principles derived from two WGA/WSWC sponsored water management workshops held In Park City, Utah last year. It will specifically focus on national policies related to wetlands, endangered species, non-point source pollution, rural development, and hydropower licensing, Keynote speakers will set the framework for five concurrent roundtable sessions addressing these policies, each with a group of expert commentators. The meeting fee is $165.00. For information, call Amy Middleton, FreSh Water Foundation, (612) 449-0092. . The WESTERN STATES WATER COUNCIL is an organization of representatives appointed by the Governors of member states - Alaska, Arizona,CaJifomia, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, w~h Oklahoma as an associate member state;