[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9647-S9648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ANIMAS LA PLATA
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I rise today to comment on an article 
which appeared in the June 29, 1995, issue of the Washington Post, 
regarding the Animas La Plata water storage project in my home State of 
Colorado. There were a great many omissions in that article which, 
unfortunately, created a false impression that the Animas La Plata 
project was unneeded, which I consider to be very unfair and certainly 
untrue.
  It is especially appropriate that I respond to that article and the 
false impression it created, since the House of Representatives is 
taking up the Interior appropriations bill this week. I trust that my 
colleagues in the House will be advised of my comments today.
  In fairness to the Washington Post, I will presume that its editors 
were simply unaware of several key considerations which mandate the 
Federal Government's full support of this crucial project. Otherwise, 
it would appear that the Post is knowingly joining in a deliberate 
misinformation campaign on the part of high-dollar environmental groups 
seeking to describe the Animas La Plata as one of the last great dam 
projects to be built in the American West.
  There is no dam on the Animas River. There is no dam on the La Plata 
River and there is none planned.
  There is, however, a small, off-river dam proposed on a small arroyo 
which is necessary to create a water storage reservoir. The entire 
project entails a pumping plant, nothing more, on the bank of the 
Animas River at Durango, CO.
  Under the project plan, water could be pumped out of the river and 
into the Ridges Basin Reservoir. Pumping would cease if the water level 
reaches a certain minimum flow necessary to protect fish. Most water 
would be pumped during flood stages.
  The fact is that the Ute Indian Tribes own the senior water rights to 
the Animas, La Plata, and Florida River systems--as well as four other 
rivers--by virtue of various treaties with the U.S. Government. These 
treaty rights have been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United 
States when disputes have arisen in other States. Those disputes took 
the form of expensive and protracted litigation in the Federal courts.
  The tribes and the water districts chose negotiation over litigation. 
Rather than engage in expensive and divisive legal battles, the tribes 
and the citizens of Colorado and New Mexico chose to pursue a 
negotiated settlement. The Ute Nations agreed to share their water with 
all people.
  The people came together in partnership and cooperation with the 
Federal Government to reach a mutually beneficial solution: the Animas 
La Plata project. Their settlement agreement 

[[Page S 9648]]
was executed on December 10, 1986. The Settlement Act was ratified by 
Congress and signed into law on November 3, 1988.
  The Settlement Act is Federal law: the law of the land. It also 
provided a cost-sharing agreement.
  The water districts and the States of Colorado and New Mexico have 
``put their money where their mouth is'' and have already lived up to 
the terms of these agreements:
  First, the State of Colorado has:
  Committed $30 million to the settlement of the tribes' water rights 
claims;
  Has expended $6 million to construct a domestic pipeline from the 
Cortez municipal water treatment plant to the Ute Mountain Ute Indian 
Reservation at Towaoc; and
  Has contributed $5 million to the tribal development funds.
  Second, the U.S. Congress has appropriated and turned over to the Ute 
Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian Tribes $49.5 million as part of 
their tribal development funds, and
  Third, water user organizations have signed repayment contracts with 
the Bureau of Reclamation.
  The construction of the Animas La Plata project is the only missing 
piece to the successful implementation of the settlement agreement and 
the Settlement Act. It is time that the U.S. Government kept its 
commitment to the people.
  Historically, this country has chosen to ignore its obligations to 
our Indian people. Members of the Ute Tribe had been living in a state 
of poverty that can only be described as obscene. Their only source of 
drinking water was from ditches dug in the ground. I find it most 
distressing that the same groups and special interests who are now 
scrambling to block this project also, in other contexts, hold 
themselves out as the only real defenders of minority rights in this 
country. Hogwash.
  This project would provide adequate water reserves to not only the 
Ute Nation, but to people in southwestern Colorado, northern New 
Mexico, and other downstream users who rely on this water system for a 
variety of crucial needs which range from endangered species protection 
to safe drinking water in towns and cities--perhaps even filling 
swimming pools for some of our critics.
  Opponents of the Animas La Plata project have alleged that the Bureau 
of Reclamation [BUREC], has not adequately analyzed alternative 
projects. That is not true.
  BUREC has performed a thorough analysis of all reasonable 
alternatives. No new circumstances exist which require reevaluation of 
the prior alternatives studies.
  Exhaustive studies, involving extensive public participation have 
demonstrated that there is no realistic alternative to the Animas La 
Plata project.
  This public alternatives process involved an advisory team consisting 
of representatives of all of the entities potentially interested in 
receiving water from the project and environmental groups such as the 
Sierra Club and the San Juan Ecological Society.
  The advisory team met 11 times in a 2\1/2\-year period. In addition, 
10 other public meetings were held with specific groups during that 
same period.
  The advisory team evaluated alternatives by comparing critical items 
for each alternative; alternatives were eliminated until the best 
overall plan was identified.
  Critical items included: impact on wildlife habitat, fisheries, any 
potential visual degradation, conservation impacts, construction costs, 
operation costs, water conservation, river flows for rafting and 
fishery protection, power usage, recreation, impact on national 
historic monuments, and others.
  Over 60 reservoir sites were identified by the team, approximately 20 
in the La Plata River drainage and the remainder in the Animas River 
drainage. The best potential site in the La Plata River drainage is the 
Southern Ute Reservoir site included in the 1979 Definite Plan Report 
[DPR]. The Ridges Basin Reservoir site was determined to be the best 
site in the Animas River drainage from an engineering and environmental 
perspective.
  In both La Plata County, CO, and San Juan County, NM, public 
elections were held on Reclamation's decision to move forward with the 
A/LP project.
  All of the so-called current objections were raised and discussed in 
public forums during the course of the election campaigns in those 
communities, including the following issues: no analysis of 
alternatives, adverse impact on rafting, no water for the Indians, 
reduced flows in the Animas River, ability of farmers to pay for water, 
effect on wetlands, and the impact on trout and elk habitat.
  At the end of the process, the general public voted overwhelmingly, 
on December 8, 1987, in La Plata County, CO, and on April 17, 1990, in 
San Juan County, NM, to endorse Reclamation's construction of the A/LP 
project.
  In a last ditch effort, two environmental organizations, the Sierra 
Club and the Environmental Defense Fund, again raised ``environmental 
concerns.'' Additional meetings were held to address those unstated 
concerns and the groups simply decided not to show up. When asked why, 
they just responded that they would ``get back to us.''
  They never did.
  Since then, they have chosen to simply funnel money into opposition 
campaigns. These groups have no real suggestions to make. They simply 
believe themselves to be somehow more pure, environmentally, than 
anyone else.
  The only alternative these groups suggest is to ``buy off'' the 
Indians. Of course, the proposed ``buy off'' would be funded by 
hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars but the groups do not care 
about that.
  The Animas La Plata project is a good deal for the taxpayers.
  The Southern Ute Indians and the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes have 
rejected the buyout proposals. Just like everyone else in our country, 
they simply want decent and reliable water supplies--using their own 
water--for their people.
  In exchange, all the people of the area will benefit. Opponents are 
apparently willing to spend even more tax dollars to ``buy off'' the 
Indians than it would cost to complete the project.
  So, as the Washington Post suggested, there are, indeed, ``politics'' 
behind the Animas La Plata controversy.
  I would suggest, however, the political ``games'' are not being 
played by project supporters, but rather by a few elite and select high 
dollar special interest groups--``beltway environmentalists''--and 
their ensconced cronies in the Department of the Interior and the EPA.
  It is time to end the trail of broken treaties and fulfill our 
commitments. Great nations, like great people, keep their words of 
honor.
  I implore my colleagues in the House to help us keep our word to the 
people of Colorado and New Mexico.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.

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