[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
H.R. 4465, ``ENDANGERED FISH RECOVERY PROGRAMS EXTENSION ACT OF 2017''
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LEGISLATIVE HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER, POWER AND OCEANS
of the
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
__________
Serial No. 115-31
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
or
Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
27-787 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
ROB BISHOP, UT, Chairman
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Ranking Democratic Member
Don Young, AK Grace F. Napolitano, CA
Chairman Emeritus Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU
Louie Gohmert, TX Jim Costa, CA
Vice Chairman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Doug Lamborn, CO CNMI
Robert J. Wittman, VA Niki Tsongas, MA
Tom McClintock, CA Jared Huffman, CA
Stevan Pearce, NM Vice Ranking Member
Glenn Thompson, PA Alan S. Lowenthal, CA
Paul A. Gosar, AZ Donald S. Beyer, Jr., VA
Raul R. Labrador, ID Norma J. Torres, CA
Scott R. Tipton, CO Ruben Gallego, AZ
Doug LaMalfa, CA Colleen Hanabusa, HI
Jeff Denham, CA Nanette Diaz Barragan, CA
Paul Cook, CA Darren Soto, FL
Bruce Westerman, AR A. Donald McEachin, VA
Garret Graves, LA Anthony G. Brown, MD
Jody B. Hice, GA Wm. Lacy Clay, MO
Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, AS Jimmy Gomez, CA
Darin LaHood, IL
Daniel Webster, FL
Jack Bergman, MI
Liz Cheney, WY
Mike Johnson, LA
Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, PR
Greg Gianforte, MT
Cody Stewart, Chief of Staff
Lisa Pittman, Chief Counsel
David Watkins, Democratic Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER, POWER AND OCEANS
DOUG LAMBORN, CO, Chairman
JARED HUFFMAN, CA, Ranking Democratic Member
Robert J. Wittman, VA Grace F. Napolitano, CA
Tom McClintock, CA Jim Costa, CA
Paul A. Gosar, AZ Donald S. Beyer, Jr., VA
Doug LaMalfa, CA Nanette Diaz Barragan, CA
Jeff Denham, CA Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU
Garret Graves, LA Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,
Jody B. Hice, GA CNMI
Daniel Webster, FL Jimmy Gomez, CA
Vice Chairman Raul M. Grijalva, AZ, ex officio
Mike Johnson, LA
Greg Gianforte, MT
Rob Bishop, UT, ex officio
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CONTENTS
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Page
Hearing held on Wednesday, December 6, 2017...................... 1
Statement of Members:
Huffman, Hon. Jared, a Representative in Congress from the
State of California........................................ 4
Prepared statement of.................................... 5
Lamborn, Hon. Doug, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Colorado.......................................... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 3
Statement of Witnesses:
Colosimo, Andrew, Government and Corporate Affairs Manager,
Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado Springs, Colorado..... 25
Prepared statement of.................................... 27
Curtis, Hon. John R., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Utah.............................................. 6
Prepared statement of.................................... 7
Hague, Jimmy, Senior Water Policy Advisor, The Nature
Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia........................... 21
Prepared statement of.................................... 23
Maddux, Henry, Director, Recovery Programs, Utah Department
of Natural Resources, Salt Lake City, Utah................. 9
Prepared statement of.................................... 10
Additional Materials Submitted for the Record:
List of documents submitted for the record retained in the
Committee's official files................................. 33
LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 4465, TO MAINTAIN ANNUAL BASE FUNDING FOR
THE UPPER COLORADO AND SAN JUAN FISH RECOVERY PROGRAMS THROUGH FISCAL
YEAR 2023, TO REQUIRE A REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THOSE PROGRAMS,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, ``ENDANGERED FISH RECOVERY PROGRAMS EXTENSION
ACT OF 2017''
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Wednesday, December 6, 2017
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans
Committee on Natural Resources
Washington, DC
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The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 a.m., in
room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Doug Lamborn
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Lamborn, LaMalfa, Bishop (ex
officio); Huffman, and Barragan.
Mr. Lamborn. The Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans
will come to order. The Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee
meets today to hear testimony on H.R. 4465, sponsored by
Representative John Curtis of Utah.
Under Committee Rule 4(f), any oral opening statements at
hearings are limited to the Chairman, Ranking Minority Member,
and the Vice Chair. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that all
other Members' opening statements be made part of the hearing
record, if they are submitted to the Subcommittee Clerk by 5
p.m. today. Hearing no objection, so ordered.
We will begin with opening statements, starting with
myself, for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. DOUG LAMBORN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO
Mr. Lamborn. Today, we will consider H.R. 4465, the
Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Extension Act of 2017,
sponsored by our new colleague from Utah, John Curtis, and
joined by a bipartisan group of co-sponsors from the affected
states, including myself.
Authorized in 1956, the Colorado River Storage Project, or
CRSP, paved the way for the development and utilization of the
water resources in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and New
Mexico. With a total storage capacity of more than 30 million
acre-feet, and the capability to generate over 5 billion
megawatt-hours of energy annually, the CRSP is vital to the
economies of the Upper Basin states.
Fourteen native fish species, including four listed as
endangered under the Endangered Species Act, also call the
Basin home. The threat of water and power restrictions
resulting from these listings prompted the states to enter into
cooperative agreements with the Federal Government, tribes, and
other non-Federal partners, as well, to ensure the continued
reliability of these projects. These agreements eventually led
to the creation of the Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery
Implementation Programs.
The 106th Congress enacted legislation to establish Federal
participation and non-Federal cost share, including the
authority to use CRSP power revenues, to support these two
programs. These agreements continue to ensure ESA compliance
for the more than 2,300 water and power projects in the five-
state region, while also promoting the goals of recovery for
the four endangered species.
In 2012, Congress reauthorized the authorization of the
agreement and the use of these revenues through 2019, but also
included important reforms to reduce overhead expenses and
agency travel in order to ensure that taxpayer dollars are
being devoted to fish recovery, not Federal bureaucrats. This
reauthorization continues this congressional oversight to
ensure that the program is transparent and trending toward
recovery of the species.
H.R. 4465 extends the use of CRSP power revenues to be used
through 2023, which also happens to fall in line with the
recovery deadline for these programs. In addition, the bill
requires a report to ensure that expenditures and actions are
helping to recover these species.
We must not lose fact of the end goal of this program, to
recover and get these four species de-listed. I am hopeful that
at the conclusion of this reauthorization, we will have
accomplished that goal.
Before I conclude, I would like to welcome Mr. Andy
Colosimo back to the Committee. Andy is from my home state of
Colorado. He has more than 30 years of experience at the local,
state, and Federal level dealing with these issues, and worked
on the original enacting legislation for the recovery program
as a staffer in the Senate.
I would also like to extend a special welcome to our new
colleague, Congressman John Curtis of Utah. As former mayor of
Provo, Utah, Congressman Curtis knows firsthand how these
ground-up, collaborative programs create certainty for water
and power users, and support local economic activity. Without
the threat of litigation, through this program, the CRSP has
achieved a balance between supporting species and local
communities.
I want to give a personal introduction to Mr. Curtis, he is
the newest Member of Congress, as you all may know. And as been
reported in the press, he has an extensive sock collection. In
fact, he will go toe to toe with anyone as to who has the best
socks around. In such a match-up, he might hose you, or you
might just knock him back on his heels. But whatever the
outcome, he won't lose his cool. He doesn't swear. The worst
thing anyone has ever heard him say is ``darn it.''
With that, I am going to thank all our witnesses for being
here today. I look forward to hearing your testimony. Although
the Administration is unable to be here today, I appreciate
their willingness to submit a statement for the official
hearing record.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lamborn follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Hon. Doug Lamborn, Chairman, Subcommittee on
Water, Power and Oceans
Today, we will consider H.R. 4465, the ``Endangered Species Fish
Recovery Program Extension Act of 2017'' sponsored by our new colleague
from Utah, John Curtis, and joined by a bipartisan group of co-sponsors
from the affected states, including myself.
Authorized in 1956, the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP),
paved the way for the development and utilization of the water
resources in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. With a
total storage capacity of more than 30 million acre-feet, and the
capability to generate over 5 billion megawatt-hours of energy
annually, the CRSP is vital to the economies of the Upper Basin states.
Fourteen native fish species--including four listed as `endangered'
under the Endangered Species Act--also call the Basin home. The threat
of water and power restrictions resulting from these listings prompted
the states to enter into cooperative agreements with the Federal
Government, tribes, and other non-Federal partners to ensure the
continued reliability of these projects. These agreements eventually
led to the creation of the Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery
Implementation Programs.
The 106th Congress enacted legislation to establish Federal
participation and non-Federal cost share, including the authority to
use CRSP power revenues, to support these two programs. These
agreements continue to ensure ESA compliance for the more than 2,300
water and power projects in the five-state region, while also promoting
the goals of recovery for the four endangered fish species.
In 2012, Congress reauthorized the authorization of the agreement
and the use of these revenues through 2019, but also included important
reforms to reduce overhead expenses and agency travel in order to
ensure that taxpayer dollars are being devoted to fish recovery--not
Federal bureaucrats. This reauthorization continues this congressional
oversight to ensure that the program is transparent and trending toward
recovery of the species.
H.R. 4465 extends the use of CRSP power revenues to be used through
2023, which also happens to fall in line with the recovery deadline for
these programs. In addition, the bill requires a report to ensure that
expenditures and actions are helping to recover these species.
We must not lose fact of the end goal of this program: recover and
get these four species de-listed. I am hopeful that at the conclusion
of this reauthorization we will have accomplished that goal.
Before I conclude, I would like to welcome Mr. Andy Colosimo back
to the Committee. Andy is from my home state of Colorado and has more
than 30 years of experience at the local, state and Federal level
dealing with these issues. And he worked on the original enacting
legislation for this recovery program as a staffer in the Senate.
I would also like to extend a special welcome to our new colleague,
Congressman John Curtis of Utah. As former Mayor of Provo, Utah,
Congressman Curtis knows firsthand how these ground-up, collaborative
programs create certainty for water and power users and support local
economic activity. Without the threat of litigation, through this
program the CRSP has achieved a balance between supporting species and
local communities.
I want to thank all of our witnesses for being with us today and I
look forward to hearing from you all. Due to a conflict with another
hearing that is happening on the Senate side this morning, the
Administration is unable to be here today, but we appreciate their
willingness to submit a statement for the official hearing record.
______
Mr. Lamborn. I now recognize the Ranking Member for 5
minutes for his statement.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. JARED HUFFMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome and
congratulations, Congressman Curtis. Do you want to show us
your socks today?
Mr. Curtis. I would defer to the Ranking Member and
Chairman as to whether or not you want me to put my feet up on
this table.
Mr. Huffman. Well, it is good to have you, and I am
delighted to be part of a hearing that is focused on a bill
that we can all feel good about supporting. What a great way to
start your career in Congress, helping move forward a strongly
bipartisan piece of consensus legislation. If only this place
worked that way all the time, but it is a great way to start.
And quite a contrast from what we saw in the Subcommittee
last week where we had another piece of legislative work that
had been carefully brought along for years. A stakeholder
consensus involving the Yakima Basin, and unfortunately, it was
conjoined with a very controversial piece of legislation, and
we were prevented from moving forward in a bipartisan consensus
way. Sometimes we get it wrong, sometimes we get it right. I
applaud you and I applaud this Subcommittee for bringing us
this stand-alone bill.
We want to help support recovery of the four endangered
species in the Upper Colorado and the San Juan Rivers. This is
a program that brings together water users, environmental
groups, tribes, local utilities, and the state and Federal
agencies, that we need to work together to find ways to ensure
water and power users needs are met in a sustainable way, that
also accounts for species protection under the ESA. These are
exactly the kind of partnerships that I strongly believe we
need to support, and not the more controversial partisan
attempts.
Over the past few decades, these recovery programs in the
Upper Colorado Basin have kept these unique fish alive. That is
no small feat. I applaud the many partners who are represented
here today, including our witnesses that work together to make
sure that more species are not lost to extinction.
I also want to support and recognize the work of recovery
programs thus far, while acknowledging that we also need to
address the underlying cause of native species lost in the
Colorado River Basin. This is a highly altered river ecosystem,
obviously, and a dwindling water supply. In addition to the
important habitat it provides for a wide range of species, this
river obviously does a lot of work. It provides water for
nearly 40 million people across seven states, in addition to
Mexico. It provides irrigation to millions of acres of land,
and power for millions of people and hundreds of local
communities. It is a valuable resource to more than 20 tribes,
and, of course, it supports the outdoor recreation economy
across the region.
It is very important, I think, to recognize that the
Colorado River Basin is experiencing an unprecedented drought
and has been since the year 2000, the worst in the past 100
years, some say the worst in 1,000 years, which threatens
endangered species, the ecosystem, and roughly 1 in 10
Americans who rely on this watershed.
We have already seen dramatic changes in this basin as a
result of the drought. In March 2017, we had some of the
warmest weather in history, temperatures almost 9 degrees above
the historic average. This has serious implications for the
snowpack in the Upper Basin, which supplies 90 percent of the
water for the already strained system, where more water is
taken from the reservoirs than is replenished every year. So,
we have some challenges in the Colorado River Basin, and they
are reflected in the similar challenges that we face throughout
the West because of the drier, hotter climate.
We are going to need to support these kinds of broad
stakeholder efforts, to come together to make compromises to
find sustainable policies that balance interests and bring us
to solutions that we can all support. Today is an important
step in that direction.
I am glad to be with everyone. Mr. Chairman, thanks for
this hearing. I look forward to supporting this bill. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Huffman follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Hon. Jared Huffman, Ranking Member,
Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate that the focus of today's hearing is a bipartisan bill
that recognizes the importance of stakeholder collaboration and
balances the environment with water and power needs. It is a stark
contrast from the Majority's tactics in this Subcommittee last week,
when we discussed a one-sided bill that attacked environmental laws and
diminished the years-long efforts that went into the Yakima Basin Plan.
H.R. 4465 reauthorizes funding for programs to help recover four
endangered species within the Upper Colorado and San Juan Rivers. These
programs bring together water users, environmental groups, tribes,
local utilities, and state and Federal agencies to find ways to ensure
water and power needs are met in a sustainable way that accounts for
species protected under the Endangered Species Act. We need exactly
these types of partnerships, not so-called streamlining, so that the
significant impacts of power generation and water supply don't lead to
the extinction of native fish species in the Colorado River.
Over the last few decades, the recovery programs in the Upper
Colorado Basin have kept these unique fish alive. It is no small feat,
and I applaud the many partners, including our witnesses here today,
who have worked to make sure more species aren't lost to extinction. We
face many similar challenges in California and I understand the
significant effort and cooperation that's required from everyone
involved. These programs in the Upper Colorado River Basin have made
progress toward addressing some major threats to these endangered fish
species, including mitigating non-native species and instream flow
management.
Although I support the bill and recognize the work of the recovery
programs thus far, we must also address the underlying causes of native
species loss in the Colorado River Basin: a highly altered river
ecosystem and dwindling water supply. In addition to the important
habitat it provides for a wide range of species, the Colorado River
Basin supplies water to nearly 40 million people across seven states in
addition to Mexico. It provides irrigation to millions of acres of land
and power for millions of people and hundreds of local communities. It
is also a valuable resource to more than 20 tribes and to the outdoor
recreation economy across the region.
In addition, it is especially concerning that the Colorado River
Basin has been experiencing an unprecedented drought since 2000. It is
the worst drought in the past 100 years and one of the worst in the
past 1,000 years, threatening endangered species, the ecosystem, and
the roughly 1 in 10 Americans who rely on it. We've already seen
dramatic changes in the Colorado River Basin as a result of this
drought. In March 2017, the warmest in history, the temperatures were
almost 9 degrees above the historic average. This has serious
implications for the snowpack in the Upper Basin, which supplies nearly
90 percent of the water for the already strained system, where more
water is taken from the reservoirs than is replenished each year.
Unfortunately, research shows that we should prepare for a future that
includes more frequent and extreme droughts, like the current one, as a
result of climate change.
A drier, hotter climate in the West will make it more difficult
than it already is to meet user and environmental water needs in the
future. With less water, more people, and increasingly threatened
species, it will be critical to address ways to restore ecosystems and
modernize water infrastructure, rather than keeping the status quo. In
addition to this bill, we should focus on water reuse, recycling,
removing aging and obsolete dams, and other new ways to meet the water
needs of growing populations while ensuring a healthy environment for
future generations. If not, our rivers may become nothing more than
holding tanks and we'll have to keep endangered species on life support
indefinitely. I don't think anyone here wants to see that happen.
I am encouraged, albeit surprised, that several of my colleagues
from the other side of the dais are co-sponsors of this bill. In the
past, there have been endless claims from the Majority that this kind
of species specific recovery approach does not work. I'd argue that it
does, given that these four fish and 99 percent of all listed species
under the ESA are still around. But it would make it much easier to
recover species with sufficient funding and without continued attempts
by Committee Republicans to weaken the Endangered Species Act. If the
four endangered species addressed in this bill are important enough for
funding, I hope we can later talk about why the rest of them are too.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here today, and I look forward
to hearing from you.
I yield back.
______
Mr. Lamborn. Thank you. I also look forward to more
bipartisanship as you agree with us on some of our legislation.
Mr. Huffman. Is that how bipartisanship works? We
surrender.
Mr. Lamborn. We will now move to our first witness panel to
hear testimony from Mr. Curtis on his bill. As a reminder, you
are limited to 5 minutes, but your written statement will
appear in full in the hearing record.
Mr. Curtis, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. JOHN R. CURTIS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF UTAH
Mr. Curtis. Thank you, Chairman Lamborn, and Ranking Member
Huffman, for not only considering this bill, but for your
kindness to me as a new Member being here and your hospitality.
Thank you very much.
I do celebrate today my 3-week-and-2-day anniversary. And I
bring that up primarily to emphasize that there is no way that
I could be here with a bill of this quality without a lot of
help, and I would like to acknowledge Chairman Bishop and his
staff for the many years of work that have gone before me, not
just on this bill, but on the many natural resource issues.
Thank you for your help in preparing this bill.
I would also like to acknowledge that this is a bipartisan
effort, and I am pleased that it is supported by a group of
nonpartisan Representatives from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and
New Mexico, who have joined me as co-sponsors on this bill, and
I think that is very important as well.
I would also like to acknowledge Henry Maddux. Henry is the
Director of the Recovery Program for the Utah Department of
Natural Resources. He has traveled to be here with us today,
and I would like to give him a special shout-out. He will end
his illustrious career at the end of this year and will be
retiring. I appreciate his many years of service to the state
of Utah.
We all know how important water is to the vitality of any
community, but especially for rural communities in the dry
desert climates of the West. This bill is extremely important
to my district, because these recovery programs ensure that
people in our rural communities continue to have access to
critical water resources for everything from irrigation to
recreation. The bipartisan Endangered Fish Recovery Programs
Extension Act extends the authorization to use Upper Colorado
River Basin Fund revenues for annual base funding of fish
recovery programs on the Upper Colorado River and San Juan
Rivers.
These recovery programs for the pikeminnow, humpback chub,
razorback sucker, and bonytail were last authorized in 2012.
Interestingly, I learned as I studied this, that the pikeminnow
is not really a minnow, it is a fish that grows to 6 feet. And,
Chairman, as you talked about our eventual goal of getting
these off the endangered species list, imagine for recreation
enthusiasts, the ability to fish for a 6-foot fish in these
rivers. It is very exciting.
My bill would extend the authorization through 2023. I
think it is worth noting that these programs do not cost
taxpayers any money, because they are completely funded by fees
collected from the water users. Additionally, the bill provides
some oversight and accountability by requiring the Interior
Secretary to submit a report to Congress in consultation with
the participants in the recovery implementation programs,
describing the accomplishments and the cost of these programs.
I recently had a chance to travel to Moab firsthand to meet
the residents and local officials and representatives from
Utah's Division of Natural Resources to learn more about these
endangered fish species and the recovery programs. During my
visit, I came to better understand that not only do these
recovery programs help to protect these threatened and
endangered fish species, but they also make it possible for
Utahans and many in surrounding states and people throughout
the region to have continual access to use these waterways.
By being proactive about the recovery of threatened fish
species, we ensure that important water projects can continue
on the Upper River Colorado and San Juan Rivers.
To close, this bill is extremely important to the economics
of many in the rural parts of my congressional district and
throughout the West, and I hope the Committee will report it
favorably.
Thank you very much. I yield my time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Curtis follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Hon. John R. Curtis, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Utah
Chairman Lamborn, I would like to thank you and Ranking Member
Huffman for holding this hearing on my bill today. As many of you know,
I was elected to Congress less than a month ago, and this bill just
happens to be the first piece of legislation I introduced. That said, I
would like to thank my good friend and fellow Utahn, Chairman Rob
Bishop, and his staff for their hard work and assistance on this bill.
I would also like to thank the bipartisan group of nine Representatives
from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico that have joined with me
as co-sponsors.
We all know how important water is to the vitality of any
community--especially for rural communities in the dry desert climates
of the West. This bill is extremely important to my district, because
these recovery programs ensure that people in our rural communities
continue to have access to critical water sources for everything from
irrigation to recreation.
The bipartisan Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Extension Act
extends the authorization to use upper Colorado River Basin Fund
Revenues for annual base funding of fish recovery programs on the Upper
Colorado River and San Juan Rivers. These recovery programs for the
pikeminnow, humpback chub, razorback sucker, and bonytail were last
reauthorized in 2012 and are set to expire in 2019. My bill would
extend the authorization through 2023. I think it is worth noting that
these programs do not cost taxpayers any money, because they are
completely funded by fees collected from water users.
Additionally, the bill provides some oversight and accountability
by requiring the Interior Secretary to submit a report to Congress, in
consultation with the participants in the recovery implementation
programs, describing the accomplishments and costs of these programs.
I recently went down to Moab, Utah to meet with the residents,
local officials, and representatives from the Utah Division of Natural
Resources to learn more about these endangered fish species recovery
programs. During my visit, I came to better understand that not only do
these recovery programs help to protect these threatened and endangered
fish species, they also make it possible for Utahns and people
throughout this region to continue to access and use their waterways.
By being proactive about the recovery of threatened fish species, we
ensure that important water projects can continue on in the Upper
Colorado and San Juan Rivers.
To close, this bill is extremely important to the economies of many
of the rural parts of my congressional district and throughout the
West, and I hope that this Committee will report it favorably.
Thank you.
______
Mr. Lamborn. You are welcome. Thank you for your testimony.
You are welcome to join us for the remainder of the hearing,
but if you have to meet other obligations, we will understand
and you will be excused.
I now want to call forward our second panel of witnesses. I
will introduce them as they are coming forward to take their
seats. Our first witness is Mr. Henry Maddux, Director of
Recovery Programs for the Utah Department of Natural Resources
from Salt Lake City, Utah; our second witness is Mr. Jimmy
Hague, Senior Water Policy Advisor for The Nature Conservancy
from Arlington, Virginia; and our final witness is Mr. Andrew
Colosimo, Government and Corporate Affairs Manager for Colorado
Springs Utilities from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Thank you all for taking the time to be here. Each witness'
written testimony will appear in full in the hearing record. I
ask that witnesses keep their oral statements to 5 minutes, as
outlined in our invitation letter to you, and under Committee
Rule 4(a). I will explain how the timing lights work. Andy, I
know you know how these work, because you testified before.
When you are recognized, press the talk button to activate the
microphone. Once you begin your testimony, the Clerk will start
the timer and it will count down from 5 minutes to 0. At 4
minutes, the yellow light comes on. I would ask that you begin
to conclude your statement at that time, and to finish when it
counts down to 0 and the red light comes on.
Mr. Maddux, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF HENRY MADDUX, DIRECTOR, RECOVERY PROGRAMS, UTAH
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Mr. Maddux. Thank you, Chairman Lamborn, Ranking Member
Huffman, and members of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to
testify in support of H.R. 4465. I am Henry Maddux. I am
Director of Recovery Programs for Utah's Department of Natural
Resources. I also am Utah's Representative on the Upper Basin
Colorado River Program, and serve as Chair of that Committee.
H.R. 4465 amends Public Law 106-392 by extending the
authorization of the use of Colorado River Storage Project,
also known as CRSP, hydropower revenues through 2023 for annual
funding of both the Upper Colorado River, Fish Recovery
Program, and the San Juan River Recovery Implementation
Program.
As mentioned by Representative Curtis, a report is also
required through this amendment from the Secretary of the
Interior to the Subcommittee by the end of Fiscal Year 2021.
Public Law 106-392 authorizes Federal cost-sharing for the two
recovery programs for capital projects and use of CRSP
hydropower revenues for annual funding. The law recognizes
substantial cost-sharing by the states, power customers, and
water users. We also have in-kind contributions by many of the
other participants of the recovery programs. These non-Federal
cost-sharing commitments will continue through 2023.
CRSP hydropower revenues are a critical source of funding
for the recovery programs. These power revenues fund
maintenance and operation of many of our capital projects,
including fish passages, fish screens, bottomland projects,
hatcheries, research, and monitoring. These science-based
activities are critical to achieving our dual goals of: Number
one, recovering the four endangered fish; and Number two,
continued support of development and use of water resources in
compliance with state water law and interstate compacts.
Both the Upper Colorado River and San Juan River fish
programs were established to eliminate conflicts between water
use and species recovery for Colorado pikeminnow, razorback
sucker, humpback chub, and bonytail.
We saw that collaboration was a better path than
litigation. This collaboration began in the Upper Colorado
River Basin in 1988 by a cooperative agreement between the
Secretary of the Interior; the states of Utah, Colorado, and
Wyoming; and the Western Area Power Administration. Other full
members of the program include: CRSP power customers,
represented by Colorado River Energy Distributors Association;
water users from the three states; and environmental
organizations represented by The Nature Conservancy and Western
Resource Advocates. We also have other Federal members,
including Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and
Fish and Wildlife Service.
The San Juan Program, likewise, was established in 1992 by
cooperative agreement between the Secretary, the Navajo Nation,
Ute Mountain Ute, the Southern Ute Tribe, and the Jicarilla
Apache Nation, along with the other Federal entities. An
example of the effectiveness of this program can be
demonstrated in Grand Junction, Colorado, a place commonly
referred to as the 15-mile reach. Historically, this reach of
river dried up due to both Federal and non-Federal irrigation
diversions. It is considered critical habitat for the
endangered fish, as well as an important spawning area.
Through collaboration and voluntary contributions, over 1
million acre-feet of water has now been delivered to that reach
of river. It no longer goes dry, and supports the recovery of
these fish. To date, these two recovery programs have provided
Endangered Species Act compliance for 2,500 projects, many of
those in my home state of Utah, that support agriculture,
energy development, recreation, as well as diversion to the
Wasatch Front, where the majority of our population lives.
The program has strong support among all the participants.
I believe I can speak on behalf of the non-Federal program
participants in requesting the support of the Subcommittee for
H.R. 4465. I would note that an identical bill has been
introduced in the Senate.
Once again, I thank the Chairman, Ranking Member, and
Subcommittee members, for the opportunity to testify.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Maddux follows:]
Prepared Statement of Henry Maddux, Director, Recovery Programs, Utah
Department of Natural Resources
Thank you Chairman Lamborn, Ranking Member Huffman and members of
the Subcommittee for the opportunity to testify in support of H.R.
4465. I am Director, Recovery Programs, Utah Department of Natural
Resources. I serve as Utah's representative on the Management
Committee, Upper Colorado River Endangered Species Recovery Program and
I am chairman of that committee.
H.R. 4465 amends Public Law 106-392 by extending the authorization
through Fiscal Year 2023 for use of hydroelectric power revenues from
the Colorado River Storage Projects (CRSP) for annual funding of the
Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and the San Juan
River Basin Recovery Implementation Program. The authorization extends
the currently authorized levels of annual funding. A report by the
Secretary of the Interior is required to be submitted to Congress in
Fiscal Year 2021 with recommendations for funding beyond Fiscal Year
2023. Any funding beyond Fiscal Year 2023 requires authorization by
Congress.
Public Law 106-392 became law in 2000. The law authorizes Federal
cost-sharing for the two recovery programs for capital projects and use
of CRSP power revenues for annual funding. The law recognizes
substantial cost-sharing by states of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and New
Mexico, power customers, and water users. In-kind contributions are
also made by other participants in the recovery programs. These non-
Federal cost sharing contributions will continue through 2023. Congress
has extended the Federal authority both in amount and time with
amendments to P.L. 106-392 on three other occasions with strong
bipartisan support. The authorization for expenditures on capital
projects currently extends through 2023. Capital project expenditures
are also cost shared.
CRSP hydropower revenues are a critical source of cost sharing
funds for the recovery programs. Hydropower revenues fund operation and
maintenance of capital facilities including fish passages, fish
screens, hatcheries, bottomland habitat, research, and monitoring.
These activities are critical to achieving the goals of the recovery
programs--recovery of four endangered fish species while water
development and management proceeds in compliance with state water and
wildlife law, interstate compacts approved by Congress, authorizations
for Bureau of Reclamation projects approved by Congress, and the
Endangered Species Act.
Both the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin Recovery Programs
were established to eliminate potential conflicts among water
development and management activities and protection and recovery of
four endangered fish species--Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub,
razorback sucker, and bonytail. The species occupy the lower warm water
reaches of the upper Colorado River Basin.
The Upper Colorado River Recovery Program was established in 1988
by cooperative agreement among the Secretary the Interior, the
governors of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, and Western Area Power
Administration. Other participants include CRSP power customers, water
users in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, and environmental organizations
represented by The Nature Conservancy and Western Resource Advocates.
Participating Federal agencies include Bureau of Reclamation, Western
Area Power Administration, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
The San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program was
established in 1992 By cooperative agreement among the Secretary of the
Interior, the governors of Colorado and New Mexico, the Navajo Nation,
Southern Ute Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Jicarilla Apache
Nation. Other participants include water users in Colorado and New
Mexico, and environmental organizations represented by The Nature
Conservancy. Participating Federal agencies include Bureau of
Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, and
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Both programs have the objective of recovering and de-listing the
endangered fish. Program activities address all causes of the
endangerment including flow management, habitat development, non-native
fish control, research and monitoring. Research and monitoring has
resulted in the programs' recovery actions being driven by sound
science.
In establishing these programs, it was agreed that there will be no
taking of water from any water user or Reclamation contractor. In turn,
water users, the states, and Reclamation agreed to find ways to provide
water for endangered fish species consistent with state water law,
interstate compacts, and Reclamation project authorizations. Water is
provided for endangered fish through reoperation of Reclamation
projects, improving efficiency of irrigation projects with saved water
being made available to endangered fish habitat, coordinated reservoir
operations to enhance spring peak flows without jeopardizing reservoir
yields, and participation in the reservoir expansion with storage
capacity dedicated to endangered fish. These efforts to cooperatively
and voluntarily provide water for endangered fish would not happen
without the recovery programs.
An example of the effectiveness of the cooperative approach to
providing water is found on the Colorado River near Grand Junction.
Historically, the 15-mile reach of the river was often dried up due to
depletions by Federal and non-Federal irrigation projects holding
senior water rights. This reach of the river is in designated critical
habitat for the endangered fish. Since 1997, more than 1 million acre-
feet of water has been delivered to this reach to benefit endangered
fish. There are many other examples of significant voluntary and
cooperative provision of water to endangered fish throughout the basin.
The dollar value of this water, which has not been estimated, in my
opinion very likely exceeds the total cost of the two programs.
In evaluating impacts of existing and new water projects on the
endangered fish as required by the Endangered Species Act, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service reviews the actions taken by the recovery programs
to protect and recover the species to determine if those actions offset
project impacts. To date, the Service has found that program actions
both at the impact approximately 2,500 water projects in the Upper
Colorado and San Juan River Basins, including every Reclamation project
upstream of Lake Powell. There have been no lawsuits filed regarding
Endangered Species Act compliance under the recovery programs.
Furthermore, compliance with the Endangered Species Act has been
streamlined for Federal agencies, water users, and the Fish and
Wildlife Service.
The recovery programs have greatly improved the status of
endangered fish species. Since the inception of the programs,
populations of endangered fish have increased in the two river basins.
The Service will prepare 5-year status reviews of three of the species
in 2018. The status reviews may lead to down-listing of the species
from endangered to threatened.
The programs have strong grassroots support among all participants
including water users, the states, tribes, power customers, and
environmental organizations. Many of these organizations have submitted
letters of support to the Subcommittee for H.R. 4465.
Due to the success of the programs and strong grassroots support,
the programs have had the support of five presidential administrations.
P.L. 106-392 and subsequent amendments have had strong bipartisan
support in Congress. I believe I can speak on behalf of all the non-
Federal program participants in requesting the support of the
Subcommittee for H.R. 4465. I would note that an identical bill (S.
2166) has been introduced by Senator Gardner with bipartisan support.
Once again, I thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for the
opportunity to testify. I would be happy to answer any questions
regarding my testimony.
*****
ATTACHMENT
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Lamborn. Thank you. Mr. Hague, you are now recognized
for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF JIMMY HAGUE, SENIOR WATER POLICY ADVISOR, THE
NATURE CONSERVANCY, ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
Mr. Hague. Chairman Lamborn, Ranking Member Huffman, and
members of this Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
participate in this hearing about two important fish recovery
programs in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
My name is Jimmy Hague and I am the Senior Water Policy
Advisor for the Nature Conservancy. I am here today to express
the Conservancy's strong support for H.R. 4465, the Endangered
Fish Recovery Programs Extension Act of 2017. I want to thank
Representative Curtis for his leadership in introducing this
legislation, as well as all the bipartisan co-sponsors of the
bill, representing each of the Upper Basin states of Wyoming,
Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. We appreciate their support.
In addition to this testimony, I am submitting to the
Committee today a letter from Taylor Hawes, Director of the
Colorado River Program at The Nature Conservancy, also
requesting your support for H.R. 4465.
The Conservancy is a global conservation organization
dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life
depends. Working in all 50 states as well as 72 countries, we
use the collaborative approach that engages local governments,
communities, the private sector, farmers, ranchers, and other
landowners. In the Colorado River Basin, this means working
collaboratively to sustain healthy river ecosystems and the
people that depend on them.
The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program,
and the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program,
are highly successful collaborative conservation partnerships
involving the Upper Basin states, as well as Indian tribes,
Federal agencies, water, power, and environmental interests.
These programs are recovering four species of endangered
Colorado River fish so that they can each be removed from the
Federal endangered species list while still allowing water use
and development to occur in our growing western communities.
The Nature Conservancy is a proud partner in both programs.
We have supported the recovery programs for more than 30
years by providing technical and legal expertise, field project
support, and private fundraising to match public funds. The
programs are recovering federally-listed, warm-water native
fish through improved management of Federal dams, river and
floodplain habitat restoration, active native fish stocking,
and the control of non-native fish species, among other
activities.
These programs are successful. They are successful because
all 19 member organizations are fully committed to recovering
the fish that depend on the Colorado River system. The members
demonstrate our commitment by sharing the cost of the programs,
and by engaging fully in the collaborative process, including
consensus-based problem solving.
These programs are characterized by a culture of respect,
science-based decision making, and earnest collaboration toward
shared objectives. The programs have recovery goals that
provide objective measurable criteria for down-listing and de-
listing the species, including numeric population goals, and
the site of recovery activities. These goals allow the programs
to monitor progress toward achieving recovery, as well as to
assess the effectiveness of management activities, and to
adjust recovery efforts through adaptive management.
It is critical to both species recovery and water
development that the authority to use Colorado River Storage
Project hydropower revenues for annual base funding be extended
through 2023. Without the passage of H.R. 4465, annual base
funding for the recovery programs, which is cost-shared
pursuant to ongoing agreements by states, tribes, and water
users, would be cut by almost 40 percent after next fiscal
year. A cut of this size would significantly harm our ability
to recover the species.
These funds support instream flow identification,
evaluation and protection, habitat restoration and maintenance,
management of non-native fish impacts, endangered fish
propagation and stocking, research, monitoring and data
management, program management, public information involvement,
as well as operation and maintenance of millions of dollars of
capital projects, such as fish screens, fish passage, and
reservoir improvements.
The substantial reduction of revenue that would occur
without extended authorization would halt important recovery
actions for both programs, and put at risk the substantial
progress we have made over three decades of collaboration to
restore healthy populations of these native fish species. It
would also create uncertainty with respect to ESA compliance
for millions of agricultural, industrial, and municipal water
users who rely on steady supplies from the Colorado River and
its tributaries.
Because extending the programs' authorization to use these
hydropower revenues is critical to recovery of the four
endangered species, The Nature Conservancy strongly urges your
support for H.R. 4465.
Thank you, Chairman Lamborn, Ranking Member Huffman,
members of the Committee, for the opportunity to testimony. I
look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hague follows:]
Prepared Statement of Jimmy Hague, Senior Water Policy Advisor for The
Nature Conservancy
Chairman Lamborn, Ranking Member Huffman, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to participate in this
hearing about two important fish recovery programs in the Upper
Colorado River Basin. My name is Jimmy Hague, Senior Water Policy
Advisor at The Nature Conservancy. I am here today to express the
strong support of The Nature Conservancy for H.R. 4465, the Endangered
Fish Recovery Programs Extension Act of 2017.
In addition to this testimony, I am submitting to the Committee a
letter from Taylor Hawes, director of The Nature Conservancy's Colorado
River Program, requesting your support for H.R. 4465.
The Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to
conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by
science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to the world's
toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We
are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at
unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping
make cities more sustainable. Working in all 50 states and 72
countries, we use a collaborative approach that engages local
communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners,
including farmers, ranchers, and other landowners. In the Colorado
River Basin, this means working collaboratively to sustain healthy
river ecosystems and the people that depend on them.
The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and the
San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (the ``Programs'')
are highly successful collaborative conservation partnerships involving
the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as
Indian tribes, Federal agencies, and water, power, and environmental
interests. These Programs are recovering four species of endangered
Colorado River fish so that they can each be removed from the Federal
endangered species list while still allowing water use and development
in our growing western communities. The Nature Conservancy is a proud
partner in both Programs.
The Nature Conservancy (the Conservancy) is a long-standing member
of the Upper Colorado River Program's Management Committee and Biology
Committee and the San Juan River Program's Coordination Committee and
Biology Committee. (The Conservancy shares representation of
environmental interests with Western Resource Advocates in the Upper
Colorado River Program.) We have contributed more than $1.5 million in
capital funds for habitat restoration, joining the states of New
Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, four Indian tribes, Federal
agencies, and water and power interests in sharing the costs of
recovery and compliance.
The Programs are successful because all 19 member organizations are
fully committed to recovering the federally listed, warm-water, native
fish species that depend on the Colorado River system: the Colorado
pikeminnow, humpback chub, razorback sucker, and bonytail. The members
demonstrate our commitment by sharing the costs of the Programs, and by
engaging fully in the collaborative process, including consensus-based
problem solving. The Programs are characterized by a culture of
respect, science-based decision making, and earnest collaboration
toward shared objectives. The Conservancy has supported the recovery
Programs for more than 30 years by providing technical (biological,
ecological, and hydrological) and legal expertise, field project
support (for example, design and implementation of three phases of
habitat restoration along the San Juan River), and private fundraising
to match public funds.
We are participants in the Programs because they support the
recovery of endangered, native fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin
through improved management of Federal dams, river and floodplain
habitat restoration, active native fish stocking, and the control of
non-native fish species. The Programs have recovery goals that provide
objective, measurable criteria for down-listing and de-listing the
species, including numeric population goals and a set of specific
recovery activities. These goals allow the Programs to monitor progress
toward achieving recovery, to assess the effectiveness of management
actions, and to adjust recovery efforts through adaptive management.
The collaborative Programs for endangered fish recovery enable
water development and management to take place in the Upper Basin in
compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA), interstate compacts,
and state water laws. The Programs also provide ESA compliance for
continued operation of Federal water and power projects in the Upper
Basin. Since 1988, the two Programs have provided ESA Section 7
compliance without litigation for over 2,500 Federal, tribal, state,
and privately managed water projects across the Upper Colorado River
Basin depleting more than 3.7 million acre-feet of water per year--
including those projects that supply water to our growing western
cities.
It is critical to both species recovery and water development that
the authority to use Colorado River Storage Project hydropower revenues
for annual base funding be extended through 2023. Without the passage
of H.R. 4465, annual base funding for the Recovery Programs--which is
also cost-shared pursuant to ongoing agreements by states, tribes, and
water users--would be cut by almost 40 percent starting next year.
These funds provide for instream flow identification, evaluation,
and protection; habitat restoration and maintenance; management of non-
native fish impacts; endangered fish propagation and stocking;
research, monitoring, and data management; public information and
involvement; program management; and operation and maintenance of
millions of dollars of capital projects, including fish screens, fish
passages, and reservoir improvements.
The current level of annual base funding is approximately $8.2
million. The substantial reduction of this revenue that would occur
without extended authorization would halt important recovery actions
for both Programs. Such a cut would put at risk the substantial
progress we have made over three decades of collaboration to restore
healthy populations of these native fish species. It would also create
uncertainty with respect to ESA compliance for the millions of
agricultural, industrial, and municipal water users who rely on steady
supplies from the Colorado River and its tributaries.
Because extending the Programs' authorization to use these
hydropower revenues is critical to recovery of the four endangered
species, the Nature Conservancy strongly urges your support for H.R.
4465.
Thank you, Chairman Lamborn, Ranking Member Huffman, and members of
the Subcommittee for the opportunity to provide this testimony.
*****
ATTACHMENT
The Nature Conservancy,
Boulder, Colorado
December 4, 2017
Hon. Doug Lamborn, Chairman,
Hon. Jared Huffman, Ranking Member,
House Committee on Natural Resources,
House Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans,
1324 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, DC 20515.
Re: H.R. 4465, the Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Extension Act of
2017
Dear Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member Huffman:
The Nature Conservancy supports the Endangered Fish Recovery
Programs Extension Act of 2017 (H.R. 4665) because extending the
authorization to use hydropower revenues through FY 2023 is critically
important to keeping two vital endangered species recovery programs
moving forward in the Upper Colorado River basin.
H.R. 4465 amends P.L. 106-392, the authorizing legislation for the
Recovery Programs, to provide for continued use of Colorado River
Storage Project (CRSP) revenue for annual funding of the Upper Colorado
River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and the San Juan River Basin
Recovery Implementation Program through 2023 at currently authorized
levels. Cost sharing for the programs is also provided by the States of
Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah, water users, and CRSP power
customers.
The two Recovery Programs are highly successful collaborative
conservation partnerships involving the States of New Mexico, Colorado,
Utah, and Wyoming, as well as Indian tribes, federal agencies, and
water, power, and environmental interests. These Programs are
recovering four species of endangered Colorado River fish so that they
can each be removed from the federal endangered species list while
still allowing water use and development in our growing Western
communities to continue in compliance with the federal Endangered
Species Act (ESA), state law, and interstate compacts. Since 1988, the
two Programs have provided ESA Section 7 compliance without litigation
for over 2,500 federal, tribal, state, and privately managed water
projects across the Upper Colorado River basin depleting more than 3.7
million acre-feet of water per year--including those projects that
supply water to our growing Front Range cities.
Colorado River Storage Project revenues provide critical annual
funding for the programs for operation and maintenance of facilities to
recover the species, including fish screens, fish passages, bottomland
habitat, and hatcheries, research and monitoring, and program
management. Because extending the Programs' authorization to use these
hydropower revenues is critical to keeping recovery of the four
endangered species moving forward, the Nature Conservancy requests your
support for H.R. 4465.
Sincerely,
Taylor Hawes,
Colorado River Program Director.
______
Mr. Lamborn. Thank you. Mr. Colosimo, you are now
recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ANDREW COLOSIMO, GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS
MANAGER, COLORADO SPRINGS UTILITIES, COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
Mr. Colosimo. Good morning. Thank you, Chairman Lamborn,
Ranking Member Huffman, Chairman Bishop, and members of the
House Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans, for the
opportunity to testify in support of H.R. 4465.
My name is Andrew Colosimo, Government Affairs Manager for
Colorado Springs Utilities. Colorado Springs Utilities is a
four-service municipal utility providing electric, natural gas,
water, and wastewater services to approximately 407,000 citizen
owners.
Colorado Springs is not located on a major river, it must
rely on water delivered from distant watersheds. Currently,
between 60 and 70 percent of our water supply originates from
first and subsequent reuse of water obtained from the Colorado
River headwaters through four transbasin diversions. We, along
with other Colorado Front Range water providers, including
Denver and Aurora, serve approximately 80 percent of Colorado's
population and economy. About 72 percent of this supply comes
from the Colorado River Basin. As a result, Front Range water
providers have a large stake in the future of Colorado River.
Our water diversions from the Colorado River Basin link us to
the Upper Colorado Recovery Endangered Fish Program.
Colorado Springs Utilities is also linked to this program
because we are a preference power customer of the Reclamation's
Federal CRSP program by virtue of our firm electric service
contract with Western Area Power Administration. Approximately
10 percent of our power comes from this cost-based and reliable
source of electricity.
Colorado Springs Utilities also delivers Federal hydropower
allocations to many of our local military installations,
including Peterson Air Force Base, the Air Force Academy,
Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, and Fort Carson. Ensuring
their electric reliability and resiliency is of utmost
importance to Colorado Springs Utilities.
This program operates in accordance with state water laws,
tribal laws, and interstate compact. Colorado water users have
been involved in protecting endangered fish on the Colorado
River since 1983, when the Colorado Water Congress established
a special project on endangered species. The initial objective,
as it is today, was to develop administrative solutions to
potential conflicts between water development and management
activities, and protection of endangered species in the
Colorado River Basin.
These initial efforts lead to the recovery programs that
were established through cooperative agreements among the Upper
Basin states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and
the Federal agencies in 1988. We appreciate the support that
Congress has provided to this program since 2000 when
legislation, Public Law 106-392, was passed, which authorized a
$100 million capital improvement program.
Since passage of Public Law 106-392, CRSP power revenues
have provided over $67 million to the Upper Colorado Recovery
Program, and $32 million to the San Juan River Recovery
Implementation Program. The CRSP power customers, through the
participation of the Colorado River Energy Distributors
Association, also continue to support this program.
Water and power interests recognize that the recovery
programs are an excellent model of Federal/non-Federal
collaboration. Continuation of the annual base funding from
CRSP hydropower revenues at the currently authorized levels is
essential for the programs to provide continuing ESA
compliance, and to assist in recovering the endangered fish
species in the two basins. Water and power customers strongly
support this legislation, and encourage timely passage of H.R.
4465, to extend these authorities and obligations contained in
Public Law 106-392.
We are grateful for the past support of the Subcommittee,
which has allowed these nationally recognized endangered
species recovery programs to accomplish these important
objectives. Continuing the recovery programs through Fiscal
Year 2023 will allow our community, along with many others, the
certainty needed to provide dependable water supply to our
citizen owners. We are encouraged by some positive progress
toward down- and de-listing these species, and look forward to
continuing to work with the Federal Government, the states, and
other partner agencies on program objectives. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Colosimo follows:]
Prepared Statement of Andrew J. Colosimo, Colorado Springs Utilities
Thank you Chairman Lamborn, Ranking Member Huffman, and members of
the House Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans for the opportunity
to testify in support of H.R. 4465 the ``Endangered Fish Recovery
Programs Extension Act of 2017.'' I would also like to thank
Representative Curtis for introducing this important piece of
legislation.
My name is Andrew Colosimo, the Government Affairs Manager for
Colorado Springs Utilities. As a community-owned, four service
municipal utility, our focus is providing safe, reliable,
competitively-priced electric, natural gas, water and wastewater
services to our citizen owners and customers.
The Colorado Springs Utilities water system serves over 470,000
people across a 200-square mile service area. The water system includes
25 reservoirs, 38 storage tanks, 6 water treatment facilities, and over
2,000 miles of water mains. Source water is diverted from over 100
miles outside the city.
Colorado Springs is not located on a major river, it must rely on
water delivered from distant watersheds. Currently, between 60 and 70
percent of the Utilities' water supply originates from the first use
and subsequent reuse of water obtained from Colorado River headwaters
through four transbasin diversions. These supplies are transported into
the Arkansas River Basin and delivered to storage and treatment
facilities via four raw water pipeline systems.
We, along with other Colorado Front Range water providers including
Denver and Aurora, serve about 80 percent of Colorado's population and
economy. About 72 percent of this supply comes from the Colorado River
Basin. As a result, Front Range water providers have a large stake in
the future of the Colorado River. Our water diversions from the
Colorado River Basin link us to the Upper Colorado Endangered Fish
Recovery Program.
Colorado Springs Utilities is also linked to this program because
we are a preference power customer of the Reclamation's Federal
Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) by virtue of our firm electric
service contract with the Western Area Power Administration.
Approximately 10 percent of our power comes from this cost-based and
reliable source of energy. The remainder of our power comes from local
generation including coal, natural gas, local hydropower generation and
renewable energy sources. Colorado Springs Utilities delivers Federal
hydropower allocations to many of our local military installations
including Peterson Air Force Base, the Air Force Academy, Cheyenne
Mountain Air Force Station and Fort Carson. Ensuring electric
reliability and resiliency for our military customers is of utmost
importance to Colorado Springs Utilities.
The Recovery Programs are a proven Federal/non-Federal
collaborative program that provide Endangered Species Act (ESA)
compliance for over 2,320 water projects that withdraw about 3.7
million acre-feet annually, including those belonging to Colorado
Springs. The goals of the programs are to recover four endangered fish
species--the humpback chub, razorback sucker, bonytail chub and the
Colorado pikeminnow--while continuing operations and development of
water projects in the Upper Colorado River and San Juan River Basins,
and operation of the Flaming Gorge Dam and Aspinall Unit facilities of
the CRSP.
The programs operate in accordance with state water laws, tribal
laws, and interstate compacts. There has been no taking of water from
any water user or Reclamation contractor. The programs allow the
Federal Government to fulfill its Indian trust responsibilities in
compliance with the Endangered Species Act. It is also important to
note that no lawsuits have been filed on ESA compliance for any water
project under the programs.
Colorado water users have been involved in protecting endangered
fish on the Colorado River since 1983 when the Colorado Water Congress
established the Special Project on Endangered Species. The initial
objective was to develop administrative solutions to potential
conflicts between water development/management activities and
protection of endangered species in the Colorado River Basins.
These initial efforts led to the Recovery Programs that were
established through Cooperative Agreements among the Upper Basin states
of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming and Federal agencies in 1988
for an initial 15-year period to recover four species of endangered
fish in the Colorado and San Juan River Basins. In August 2009, the
Cooperative Agreements were extended through 2023. The Colorado Water
Congress continues to support this program today.
We appreciate the support that Congress has provided to this
program since 2000 when legislation (P.L. 106-392) was passed which
authorized a $100 million capital improvement program. The legislation
required ``matching funds'' for the capital program so that, in the
event state funding for the program ceased, so too would power revenue
funding. CRSP power revenues funded $17 million of the Program capital
features.
The 2000 law also authorized the use of CRSP power revenue for
``base funding'' of activities including operation and maintenance of
capital features, and recovery actions other than capital projects,
including monitoring and research, and program management.
Since passage of P.L. 106-392, CRSP power revenues have provided
over $67 million to the Upper Colorado Recovery Implementation Program
and $32 million to the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program.
The CRSP power customers through the participation of the Colorado
River Energy Distributors Association (CREDA) also continue to support
this program.
Water and power interests recognize that the Recovery Programs are
an excellent model of Federal/non-Federal collaboration. Continuation
of annual base funding from CRSP hydroelectric power revenues at
currently authorized levels is essential for the programs to provide
continuing ESA compliance and to assist in recovering the endangered
fish species in the two basins.
Water and power customers strongly support this legislation and
encourage timely passage of H.R. 4465 that will extend authorities and
obligations contained in Public Law 106-392. We are grateful for the
past support of the Subcommittee which has allowed these nationally-
recognized endangered species recovery programs to accomplish their
important objectives.
Continuing the Recovery Programs through Fiscal Year 2023 will
allow our community along with many others the certainty needed to
provide dependable water supply to our citizen owners. We are
encouraged by some positive progress toward down- and de-listing
species and look forward to continuing to work with the Federal
Government, the states, and other partner agencies on Program
objectives.
______
Mr. Lamborn. Thank you. We will now begin questions for
witnesses. To allow all of our Members to participate, and to
ensure that we can hear from all of our witnesses today, under
Committee Rule 3(d), Members are limited to 5 minutes for their
questions. I will save my questions for the end.
At this point, we will recognize Representative LaMalfa of
California.
Mr. LaMalfa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The bill being
discussed today, obviously, will have great impact on the
supply and hydropower. The issues being talked about on the
Colorado River with this program are very similar to what we
face in Northern California with the Sacramento River Basin,
with the program there known as the Sacramento Valley Salmon
Recovery Program, which is an agreement between Federal, state
and local stakeholders. A lot of good work has been done,
hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on fish
screens, water efficiency, habitat restoration, things that
have been done with a good bipartisan spirit, and a lot of
cooperation. But for quite a few years, not all the input from
the stakeholders, particularly the water users, has been as
strong as it should be. So, I am hoping from this legislation
we can take some lessons from that and apply it at home in
California.
Mr. Colosimo?
Mr. Colosimo. Colosimo.
Mr. LaMalfa. I should know better as an Italian. Colosimo.
What do you see for the fish that are being listed under ESA,
the prospects for being de-listed, how soon, how simple, what
needs to happen in order to get to a de-listing?
Mr. Colosimo. Congressman LaMalfa, thank you for the
opportunity to talk about this program. I think we are on track
toward down- and de-listing some of these fish, and really are
working closely with the Federal agencies to come out with some
additional analysis on their progress. Recovering these species
is difficult and it is time-consuming, and we would all like to
see things done more quickly.
Mr. LaMalfa. Are there structural issues within the ESA
that make it more challenging than maybe it needs to be?
Mr. Colosimo. I believe that there are certainly
opportunities that the Endangered Species Act could be
streamlined to make some of these decisions more quickly. But I
think in the case of this program, I think we are on track.
Mr. Maddux may be able to provide a little more specificity
on exact timing and recovery issues. But I believe that we are
on track to making significant progress toward down- and de-
listing these species in the next few years.
Mr. LaMalfa. So, you are feeling fairly optimistic about
that timeline?
Mr. Colosimo. Yes, sir.
Mr. LaMalfa. Mr. Maddux, I will throw that right back to
you.
Mr. Maddux. Thank you for the question. Currently, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service is working on species status
assessments for three of the species: the Colorado pikeminnow,
razorback sucker, and humpback chub. That is the first step in
the process of evaluating whether they are ready to be down-
listed. Those evaluations will be completed in 2018.
The humpback chub is the first one, it is already at the
level now where it is being discussed in senior management,
official wildlife, between the three regions: California
region; the Southwest, basically, Arizona and New Mexico; and
the Region 6 that covers the Upper Basin states. So, that one
we are pretty optimistic about, and we are hoping that by the
end of 2018 we will have made decisions for down-listing three
of the four.
Mr. LaMalfa. What is your experience on this being a
voluntary agreement as opposed to being imposed?
Mr. Maddux. An interesting fact. Like I said, the 15-mile
reach is an example. But each year as snow-melt approaches, all
the private and Federal reservoirs in Colorado begin a dialogue
on how to coordinate their releases to benefit those fish, so
that when snow-melts come and they are filling their
reservoirs, they coordinate their releases to provide what
looks similar to the historic hydrograph that occurred when
those fish evolved. And that is all done voluntarily, and
occurs on an annual basis. Not all the time are they able to
achieve a giant peak, but many times they can, and we have seen
great benefits from that. We have private irrigation companies
that are allowing us to put structures in place, where all the
saved water remains in the river to benefit the fish.
I think as people see and begin to trust and know that
their interests are also looked at, the amount of work they do
voluntarily has greatly increased.
Mr. LaMalfa. Briefly on sound science, you used that
terminology a bit ago. How important is that to getting to a
good, well-rounded outcome?
Mr. Maddux. When we started working on these fish, we knew
very little. In fact, in some of our stocking efforts, we
learned we were putting those fish in the wrong areas. But as
we have learned, we have adapted. A great example are the
releases out of Flaming Gorge Dam. We have a huge amount of
flow that comes naturally down the Yampa River out of Colorado.
We would match the peak of the Yampa with the Green River from
Flaming Gorge, thinking that achieving a high peak and flooding
those bottomlands was best for the fish. Nothing was happening.
And what we learned, through science, is that we needed to
time it when the razorback sucker eggs were hatching on the
river. So, now, that peak from Flaming George is regulated to
match when the fish are actually coming off the spawning bars.
And now we are seeing, this last year, over 2,000 fish out of
just one of those bottomlands was released back.
Mr. LaMalfa. It makes sense. I better yield my overtime
back. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Lamborn. Thank you. I would now recognize the Ranking
Member for any questions he might have.
Mr. Huffman. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. I really don't have too
many questions. I am just very favorably impressed with the way
all the stakeholders have come together and stuck with it over
these many years, and the adaptive management that you
described sounds like a great feature of this program.
So, unless you wanted to tell us a little more about the
hydrograph and how you have timed releases to produce good
results for fish, I am content and ready to support this bill.
I guess I do have one question of any of you that are
fisherman. Have any of you caught this pikeminnow?
Mr. Maddux. I have caught the humpback chub.
Mr. Huffman. Not all of our pikeminnow are valued sport
fish in California. Sometimes we want to catch them and throw
them off on the shore and wish that they would go away. But
they fight for a while and then they just sort of roll over and
you bring them in, and they are not great fighters. I just
wondered if anybody had caught these Colorado River pikeminnow,
and if they were a more challenging sport fish to catch?
Mr. Maddux. I might add that the state of Utah is actually
working with the Fish and Wildlife Service. We are going to try
to create a sport fishery on one of our reservoirs for Colorado
pikeminnow. Can you imagine people setting a new state record
every year, and the excitement that that will generate.
Mr. Huffman. And jobs, because fisheries do create jobs and
a lot of economic activities, and it is important that we
remember that. Thanks for all your good work.
Mr. Lamborn. I do have a few follow-up questions. Mr.
Colosimo and Mr. Maddux, we have talked a little bit about
fisheries or hatcheries. What role do these play in recovering
endangered species on the Upper Colorado and San Juan River
Basins?
Mr. Maddux. Thank you, Chairman Lamborn. When we first
started these programs, there were about 300 razorbacks left in
the wild in the Upper Basin, and they were dwindling every
year. There were no bonytail in the Upper Basin. Through
hatcheries, we have been able to re-establish razorback suckers
and we have reached numbers now to where they are spawning,
reproducing, their young are surviving. Fishery crews are out
on the river and they are catching so many it is getting in the
way of some of their other work. So, that is a success for
razorback sucker.
We now changed those resources to bonytail, and I think we
are finally starting to achieve the levels of bonytail in the
river where we are starting to see a biological response. So,
those hatcheries have been critical to our success.
I should note that Navajo Nation and others have provided
some of their own land to raise these fish for reintroduction
on the San Juan and in the Green and Colorado.
Mr. Lamborn. Mr. Colosimo?
Mr. Colosimo. Mr. Chairman, I don't have anything else to
add to Mr. Maddux's.
Mr. Lamborn. Are the fish that are released into the wild
genetically identical to those that are in the wild?
Mr. Maddux. Yes. We have genetic management plans for all
these species where the crosses, the male, the female, are
controlled on who is mating, who is producing those young, to
basically get the best genetic mix we can at the time of
release.
Mr. Lamborn. I have always thought that it was a good idea
to use hatcheries. I have heard occasionally some criticism
that these fish are not the same as those that are in the wild,
so they don't want to use hatcheries. My thought is if we are
really after the species being brought back and revived, we
should embrace hatcheries. And to not use them would be--the
only alternative is just to tie up a lot more territory, which
is barred from any kind of development or use. So, to me,
hatcheries are important for this purpose. Any comments?
Mr. Maddux. Personally, I believe that two of our four
species would be extinct in the Upper Colorado and San Juan
Rivers if it were not for hatcheries. We were starting at such
low numbers that without the support of hatchery-produced fish,
those fish would be gone today.
Mr. Lamborn. All right. Thank you for being here and for
your testimony. I now recognize Representative Barragan.
Ms. Barragan. I don't have any questions.
Mr. Lamborn. If there are any last questions, we will
entertain them, otherwise we are going to wrap up. Thank you
for being here. Under Committee Rule 3(o), members of the
Committee might submit questions to the Clerk within 3 business
days following this hearing, and the hearing record will be
open for 10 business days for responses. If you get any of
those questions, please answer them.
Mr. LaMalfa. Mr. Chairman, would you mind if I threw out
one more?
Mr. Lamborn. Go ahead, we have not dropped the gavel yet.
With everyone's unanimous consent, go ahead.
Mr. Huffman. Through the grace of the Ranking Member.
Mr. LaMalfa. All right. Very graceful. Thank you.
Mr. Lamborn. The bipartisan grace.
Mr. LaMalfa. All right. Since you threw it open, I thought
I had to do my 5 minutes in 6 minutes earlier, so I appreciate
that. I will come back to Mr. Maddux--I chair the Subcommittee
on Indian Affairs, so I wondered what major concerns you may
have seen with the various tribes involved in the system on the
San Juan River there? How are those efforts engaged and ensured
for their concerns?
Mr. Maddux. As I said, the four tribes are active members.
They are represented at both the administration level and the
biology level on the committees. They all have water projects
that rely on these programs for their Endangered Species Act
compliance. They have all stepped up in doing voluntary efforts
to help us achieve recovery. They support us. They come back
each year, as we come back to brief Members of Congress on the
program and our success. They are vital--they are basically the
backbone of the San Juan River Program.
Mr. LaMalfa. Thank you. That is really good to hear on the
voluntary efforts that have been mentioned here a couple of
times in Committee. I appreciate that. And, Mr. Chairman, I
appreciate the extra indulgence, and Mr. Ranking Member, thank
you. I will yield back.
Mr. Lamborn. I would like to ask another question and then
we will keep this open for a second round. That is great
bipartisan cooperation here.
Mr. Colosimo, the lack of lawsuits and certainty associated
with the water and power operations in the Basin is a great
success. We must not lose sight, however, of the goals of what
the programs seek to achieve, which is the eventual de-listing
of the four ESA-listed fish species.
Mr. Maddux, I believe, addressed this earlier about the
possible timeline for eventual de-listing of these four
species. Is there anything that you would like to say about the
eventual de-listing?
Mr. Colosimo. Chairman Lamborn, thank you for the question.
I think that the progress that we are making is encouraging. I
think we need to remain vigilant and continue to fund these
programs. Without these programs, if we aren't successful,
there is an impact, and it is going to impact our water supply
and electricity supply in the West. I think that is why we are
all at the table and are going to remain at the table to try to
recover these endangered fish.
Mr. Lamborn. How big of a percentage of the budget from
WAPA are these programs? And is it all WAPA?
Mr. Colosimo. I'm not sure that I understand.
Mr. Lamborn. Mr. Maddux?
Mr. Maddux. On our annual base funding, power revenues
account for about 75 percent of our funding.
Mr. Lamborn. OK.
Mr. Maddux. States contribute cash each year, as well as
other in-kind, and other partners also contribute.
Mr. Lamborn. Federal dollars?
Mr. Maddux. Fish and Wildlife contributes close to $2
million annually toward the program.
Mr. Lamborn. All right. That helps. Thank you. If there are
no further questions, we are going to go ahead and wrap up. You
heard what I said about being open to written questions that
might be submitted to you. If there is no further business,
without objection, the Subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:50 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[LIST OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD RETAINED IN THE COMMITTEE'S
OFFICIAL FILES]
Letters Submitted in Support of H.R. 4465
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Colorado Water Conservation Board,
dated December 4, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Grand Valley Water Users
Association, date not specified.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Public Service Company of New
Mexico, dated December 1, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Southeastern Colorado Water
Conservancy District, dated November 30, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Central Utah Water Conservancy
District, date not specified.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Colorado River District, dated
December 4, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from Colorado Springs Utilities, dated
November 30, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Colorado Water Congress, date not
specified.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Colorado River Energy Distributors
Association, dated December 4, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from Denver Water, date not specified.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from Governor Mead of Wyoming, dated
December 7, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Navajo Nation, dated December 1,
2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the National Water Resources
Association, dated December 1, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the New Mexico Interstate Stream
Commission, dated December 4, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Orchard Mesa Irrigation District,
date not specified.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the San Juan Water Commission, dated
November 30, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, dated
November 29, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Northern Colorado Water
Conservancy District, date not specified.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from Tri-County Water Conservancy District,
date not specified.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Southwestern Water Conservation
District, dated December 1, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from Tri-State Generation and Transmission
Association, Inc., dated December 18, 2017.
--Letter addressed to Chairman Lamborn and Ranking Member
Huffman from the Upper Colorado River Commission,
dated December 1, 2017.