[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S5169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SMITH of Oregon (for himself and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 1027. A bill to reauthorize the participation of the Bureau of 
Reclamation in the Deschutes Resources Conservancy, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


      deschutes resources conservancy reauthorization act of 1999

 Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation, 
cosponsored by my colleague from Oregon, to reauthorize participation 
by the Bureau of Reclamation in the Deschutes Resources Conservancy for 
an additional five years.
  The Deschutes Resources Conservancy, also known as the Deschutes 
Basin Working Group, was authorized in 1996 as a five-year pilot 
project designed to achieve local consensus around on-the-ground 
projects to improve ecosystem health in the Deschutes River basin. This 
river is truly one of Oregon's greatest resources. It drains Oregon's 
high desert along the eastern front of the Cascades, eventually flowing 
into the Columbia River. It is the state's most intensively used 
recreational river. It provides water to both irrigation projects and 
to the city of Bend, which is one of Oregon's fastest growing cities. 
The Deschutes Basin also contains hundreds of thousands of acres of 
productive forest and rangelands, serves the treaty fishing and water 
rights of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and has Oregon's 
largest non-federal hydroelectric project.
  By all accounts, the Deschutes Basin Working Group has been a huge 
success. It has brought together diverse interests within the basin, 
including irrigators, tribes, ranchers, environmentalists, an investor-
owned utility, local businesses, as well as local elected officials and 
representatives of state and federal agencies. Together, the Working 
Group was able to develop project criteria and identified a number of 
water quality, water quantity, fish passage and habitat improvement 
projects that could be funded. Projects are selected by consensus, and 
there must be a fifty-fifty cost share from non-federal sources.
  From October 1998 to March 1999, the Deschutes Resources Conservancy 
has leveraged 272,180 dollars of its funds to complete 777,680 dollars 
in on-the-ground restoration projects. These projects include: piping 
irrigation district delivery systems to prevent loss; securing water 
rights to be left instream to restore flows to Squaw Creek; providing 
riparian fences to protect riverbanks; working with private timberland 
owners to restore riparian and wetlands areas; and seeking donated 
water rights to enhance instream flows in the Deschutes River Basin. 
They have been very successful at finding cooperative, market-based 
solutions to enhance the ecosystem in the basin.
  The existing authorization provides for up to one million dollars 
each year for projects. Funding is provided through the Bureau of 
Reclamation, the group's lead federal agency. The group did not 
actually receive federal funding until this fiscal year, but it has 
already successfully allocated these funds. The Deschutes Resources 
Conservancy enjoys widespread support in Oregon. It has very committed 
board members who represent diverse interests in the basin. The high 
caliber of their work, and their pragmatic approach to ecosystem 
restoration have been recognized by others outside the region.
  I am convinced this pilot project needs to continue. That is why the 
legislation I am introducing today would extend the authorization for 
federal funds through fiscal year 2006, and increases the authorization 
for fiscal years 2002 through 2006 to two million dollars each year. I 
urge my colleagues to support this project. Not only is it important to 
central Oregon, but the Deschutes Recources Conservancy can serve as a 
national model for cooperative watershed restoration at the local 
level.

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