|
<br />
<br />EST-
<br />
<br />_J
<br />
<br />Monday. June 17.2002
<br />
<br />
<br />www.denverposl.comlnews
<br />
<br />'..-"OJ
<br />
<br />--
<br />
<br />. TII~_1
<br />-- --L-
<br />
<br />'The days of giant water projects and dams have come to an end.'
<br />Jay Watson water specialist for The Wilderness Society
<br />
<br />From dam
<br />builders
<br />to 'water
<br />managers'
<br />
<br />Bureau of Reclamation
<br />regroups in lOOth year
<br />By Bill McAllister
<br />Peffl... Po&tWash/n9ton B....eauChlel
<br />WASHlNGTON - Dan Beard
<br />lu.djusl~nnamf'd lohE"adUw
<br />U,g, Buteau of Reclamation, the
<br />fPdt-raJ uam.building agt'ncy that
<br />is largely crffiitl:'d with quenching
<br />the Wf"Sfs thirst for water, when a
<br />Wpslf'rnM'natorsurprisedhim,
<br />"'Thf' real qUf'stion," the law.
<br />maker said, "is, '{)Q we nl'ed the
<br />Bureau of Reclamation?' ..
<br />Startlt'd, Beard concl"dro: '''W('
<br />don't. EVt'rything the burt'l:lu does
<br />can be oont' by privatf' industry,"
<br />A former congrf'ssional aide,
<br />Beard qukkly r('aIlZt'd the senator
<br />D~dt"d to be temindro of the mil
<br />of water and politics in the West.
<br />"Do you want to be known u the
<br />SE'nator who put thE' Bureau of
<br />RN'lamation out of work?" hE'
<br />askNl,
<br />.. ...That.was..1993, and the_scnalor.._
<br />....'hom Beard dedinl'd to idt'ntify,
<br />made clear that he didn't wanl
<br />that line in his obituary, Nor haY!'
<br />any other membt>rs of Congrf'SS,
<br />That type of practical political
<br />trade-off may have saved the
<br />agency that m'<iny regard as most
<br />responsible for the growth of the
<br />urban W~t. Without the nf'lwork
<br />of 445 dams lhe Interior Depart-
<br />ment agl"ncy has built. including
<br />Ow Big Thompson and f'ryin~pan-
<br />Arkansas in Colorado, its ('!lampi-
<br />om say, the West .....ould be a dry
<br />and inhospitable place,
<br />Yet today, Washington has lost
<br />its ap!'t'tite fur the burl'au's bPst-
<br />known produC't: massive water
<br />projerts, Congres:> approvl'd the
<br />last lhr~ prOj'f'dS in 1961\, Two
<br />haH' bet!II bui t. Funding for the
<br />third, southwestern Colorado's
<br />Animas-La Plata, c..mt' only in
<br />2000 and onlll after the dam hlld
<br />been scaled back to a fraction of
<br />its propos(>(] size,
<br />AsJay Walson, a wllterspecial.
<br />ist for The Wildl'rnes., Society,
<br />puts it: "Thf.> days of giant water
<br />projects and dams hue come to
<br />an f'nd,"
<br />But as the bureau C'elebratt'll it,
<br />('('ntenmal with a cert'mony loday
<br />at Hoover Dl:trn, sonw arg\le thal
<br />Watson i.<; only partly right. They
<br />:say the butt'au, which has sJH'nt
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />the past sevl'ral Yl'arl5 managing
<br />supplit's as the nation's largest
<br />water wholes.aler and tht' !le('ond-
<br />largest supplier of hydrlJ('!edric
<br />power, may soon de\'t']op a new
<br />role with local and private inter-
<br />ests in building or expanding ex-
<br />isting wat{'r proj@'Cbtoservethe
<br />growing West,
<br />"If tht' current trend for popula-
<br />tiongrowth inthf' Westhold51,two
<br />things ~re inescapable, Tbf-re is
<br />going lo be a need for additional
<br />water development . ., and that
<br />is going to require SOffil' infra.
<br />strut'ture," said BennrU Haley,ln-
<br />terior's assistant secretary for
<br />water and !lden('(' and a formt'r
<br />Colorado wat('r lawyer,
<br />Although buc('au rommission('r
<br />John Keys, who f('placed Beard,
<br />has Cf'pE'atNl]y disavowed any big
<br />ne..... 1'f'Clamation projeC'ts, he said
<br />in an interview that the burt'au
<br />stands rl'sdy to help build what it
<br />can,
<br />"W(' could ct'rtain]y do it," he
<br />said, "Now, getting it donI:' in this
<br />
<br />day and age would Iw a dlfft'r..nt
<br />brt'ed of cat from how it would
<br />have Df.tn dont' in the '301\, '40sor
<br />even '50s, but it could be done,"
<br />New environmental laws would
<br />slow such COtL'ltruction, he said,
<br />Beard, v.ho headed the bureau
<br />during the Clinton administration,
<br />said ht' doesn't beli('ve for .a
<br />"nanosecond" that massive new
<br />fl'iteral ronstruction is on tap, But
<br />like rru.ny Olhen;;, t-:e t:...lievp. lItale
<br />and local governm('nts will I.-ad
<br />futureproj('Cts.
<br />Local intett'Sts, be said, art' in
<br />c!OSE'r touch with their constitu-
<br />ents. That would reduce the likeli-
<br />hood that they'd yield to corporate
<br />agriculture and big land develop-
<br />ers and build projectsthat.....l're
<br />too hig lor tht'ir communitit's, as
<br />many say the hureau did in years
<br />past.
<br />"In tht' t'arly days, the charge
<br />has been made we were doing
<br />things just so Wf' could have a
<br />
<br />Please see DAMS on 38
<br />
<br />-
<br />
<br />r I
<br />"
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />.\
<br />\
<br />tf
<br />
<br />The Colorado
<br />River's Glen
<br />Canyon Dam
<br />was completed
<br />in 1963,
<br />eventually
<br />creating what
<br />today is lake
<br />Powell, The
<br />dam, pan 01
<br />the Colorado
<br />Rrver Storage
<br />Project,
<br />provides a
<br />regulated
<br />supply of
<br />water to meet
<br />downstream
<br />needs. Though
<br />wllteT projects
<br />of this
<br />magnitude
<br />were common
<br />In past years,
<br />Washington
<br />has lost its
<br />appetite for
<br />them, forcing
<br />the Bureau of
<br />Reclamation to
<br />shift its focus,
<br />
<br />APfieptloto
<br />. .
<br />
<br />
<br />Pnotorourt~yol~OlRlICIem81lO/'1
<br />Construction of the Bureau or
<br />Reclamation's Glen Canyon
<br />Dam, part of the Colorado River
<br />Storage Project, nears comple.
<br />tion in 1963.
<br />
|