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<br />fish before construnion on ALP could
<br />begin. Under the provisions, depletions
<br />were limited to 57,100 acre-feet of water
<br />annually - a substantial reduction from
<br />the 154,800 acre-feet identified in the
<br />original ALP proposal. Because of this,
<br />the Bureau agreed to only construct
<br />cerrain elements of ALp, including
<br />Ridges Basin Reservoir, until a 7 -year
<br />study by USFWS on flows for rhe
<br />endangered fish could be completed,
<br />In 1992, a coalition of groups who
<br />remained adverse to construction
<br />of ALP claiming more cost-efficient and
<br />environmentally-friendly alternatives
<br />were available, filed suit against the
<br />Bureau, The groups, led by the Sierra
<br />Club Legal Defense Fund (Defense
<br />Fund), succeeded in getting a judge to
<br />issue a preliminary injunction to halt
<br />the construction of ALP until the J 980
<br />EIS was updated with the information
<br />abom flows for endangered fish.
<br />In 1996, the same year USFWS
<br />issued its final biological opinion on the
<br />endangered fish and the Bureau released
<br />a supplement to the 1980 EIS based on
<br />those findings, ALP rook a tremendous
<br />turn.
<br />A series of meetings were led from
<br />1996 until 1998 by then Colorado Gov,
<br />Roy Romer and then Lt. Gov. Gail
<br />Schoettler, at the suggestion of Interior
<br />Secretary Bruce Babbitt, to explore
<br />possibilities of common ground between
<br />the proponents and the opponents of
<br />ALP. It was during these meetings,
<br />dubbed the Romer-Schoettler Process,
<br />that the irrigation component was
<br />dropped from ALP
<br />Concerns about the potential for
<br />water quality problems in the rivers as a
<br />result of increased agricultural return
<br />flows were something parties on both
<br />sides of issue felr couldn't stand up to
<br />current federal laws.
<br />"If they were to build the project
<br />and facilitate a lot of irrigation, the
<br />irrigation runotf would carry large
<br />amounts of selenium into the river,"
<br />said former Defense Fund attorney,
<br />Lori Potter. "That selenium loading into
<br />the river would be toxic." Additionally,
<br />
<br />
<br />February
<br />
<br />6-7 American Water Works Association Conservation Workshop
<br />Salt Lake City, UT, Contact: (800) 926-7337
<br />17 -18 National Groundwater Association's 2000 Pacific FOCUS
<br />on Groundwater Conference.
<br />San Francisco, CA, Cathedral Hill Hotel Contact: (800) 551-7379
<br />23 Water Education Foundation's Water Law and Policy Conference
<br />San Diego, CA, U,S, Grant Hotel. Contact, (916) 444-6240
<br />27-29 American Water Works Association Inorganics Workshop
<br />Albuquerque, NM, Contacr: (800) 926-7337
<br />
<br />March
<br />
<br />1 Water Education Foundation's 17th Annual Executive Briefing
<br />Sacramento, CA, Radisson Hotel. Contact: (916) 444-6240
<br />29-31 Water Education Foundation's Lower Colorado River Tour
<br />Sacramenro, CA, Contacr: (916) 444-6240
<br />
<br />May
<br />
<br />10-12 Association of California Water Agencies 2000 Spring Conference
<br />Doublerree/Marriorr Hotels, Monterey, CA, Contact: (888) 666-2292
<br />
<br />June
<br />11-15 American Water Works Association Annual Conference
<br />Denver, CO Contact: (800) 926-7337
<br />25-28 Marine Recreational Fisheries Symposium
<br />San Diego, CA, Contact: Dallas Miner, (301) 427-2015
<br />
<br />July
<br />
<br />13-14 Water Education Foundation's Water Law Policy Attorney Briefing
<br />San Diego, CA, Contact: (916) 444-6240
<br />
<br />Contact Josh Newcom with your calendar items 916-444-6240
<br />or jnewcom@water-ed,org
<br />
<br />Potter said salt levels in the river could
<br />be increased once virgin lands were
<br />Hushed with irrigation water, increasing
<br />the salinity of water for downstream users.
<br />Farmers were devastated,
<br />"Here is a project that had congres-
<br />sional authorization since 1968 and that
<br />had been moving towards construcrion
<br />of the project until the beginning of the
<br />90s," said Mike Griswold, president of
<br />the Animas La Plata Water Conservancy
<br />District, "Then the bottom fell our and
<br />sure, the farmers are disappointed. "
<br />"There is one bit of salvation for rhe
<br />farmers on the Animas and La Plata
<br />
<br />rivers and that is an Indian water rights
<br />settlement, \1 said Philip Mutz, Upper
<br />Colorado River Commissioner for the
<br />New Mexico. "With the settlement, the
<br />existing rights of farmers are free from
<br />any furure claims by the tribes."
<br />The scaled-down version of the
<br />original ALP project was dubbed "ALP
<br />Lite," Because of elimination of the
<br />agricultural component, COStS for this
<br />version of ALP were significantly less
<br />than the otiginal plan - abour $257
<br />million - while the size of Ridges Basin
<br />Reservoir remained 270,000 acre-feet.
<br />Continued on page 11
<br />
<br />~X1JNTER ,1000 . RIVER REPORT . COLORADO RIVER PROJECT . 9
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