[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 69 (Wednesday, June 7, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4684-S4685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. Smith of Oregon):
  S. 2691. A bill to provide further protections for the watershed of 
the Little Sandy River as part of the Bull Run Watershed Management 
Unit, Oregon, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.


               The Little Sandy Watershed Protection Act

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Little Sandy 
Watershed Protection Act.
  I promised Oregonians that my first legislative business when 
Congress reconvened after the Memorial Day Recess would be the 
introduction of this bill.
  Therefore, joined by my friends Senator Gordon Smith and Congressman 
Earl Blumenauer, I introduce this legislation to make sure that 
Portland families can go to their kitchen faucets and get a glass of 
safe and pure drinking water today, tomorrow, and on, into the 21st 
century.
  The Bull Run has been the primary source of water for Portland since 
1895. The Bull Run Watershed Management Unit, Mount Hood National 
Forest, was protected by Congressional action in 1904, 1977 and then 
again, most recently, in 1996 (P.L. 95-200, 16, U.S.C. 482b note) 
because it was recognized as Portland's primary municipal water supply. 
It still is.
  Today I propose to finish the job of the Oregon Resources and 
Conservation Act of 1996. That law, which I worked on with Senator Mark 
Hatfield, finally provided full protection to the Bull Run watershed, 
but only provided temporary protection for the adjacent Little Sandy 
watershed. I promised in 1996 that I would return to finish the job of 
protecting Portland's drinking water supply and intend to continue to 
push this legislation until the job is complete.
  The bill I introduce today expands the Bull Run Watershed Management 
Unit boundary from approximately 95,382 acres to approximately 98,272 
acres by adding the southern portion of the Little Sandy River 
watershed, an increase of approximately 2,890 acres.
  The protection this bill offers will not only assure clean drinking 
water, but also increase the potential for fish recovery. Reclaiming 
suitable habitat for our region's threatened fish populations must be 
an all-out effort.

[[Page S4685]]

Through the cooperation of Portland General Electric and the City of 
Portland, the Little Sandy can be an important part of that effort.
  My belief is that the children of the 21st century deserve water that 
is as safe and pure as any that the Oregon pioneers found in the 19th 
century. This legislation will go a long way toward bringing about that 
vision.
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, let me begin by saying that I am 
pleased to be a cosponsor of this legislation aimed at protecting the 
Little Sandy Watershed for future generations. The Little Sandy lies 
adjacent to the Bull Run Watershed, which is the primary municipal 
water supply for the City of Portland, Oregon. The water that filters 
through these forests and mountainsides to the east of Portland is of 
the highest quality in the nation and does not require artificial 
filtration or treatment.
  The Bull Run Watershed Management Unit was established by 
congressional action in 1977, creating a management partnership between 
the USDA Forest Service and the City of Portland for the review of 
water quality and quantity. Additional protection was given to the Bull 
Run by the Northwest Forest Plan in 1993, restricting all timber 
harvests in sensitive areas. Neither of these actions, however, 
extended a satisfactory level of protection to the nearby Little Sandy 
Watershed. Population growth and heightened water quality expectations 
have brought the preservation of the Little Sandy Watershed to the 
forefront of the public's interest in recent years.
  The legislation that I have cosponsored would expand the boundary of 
the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit to include the southern portion 
of the Little Sandy. This would add nearly 3,000 acres to the 
Management Unit, including a number of acres currently managed by the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM). I am aware that questions have just 
arisen as to whether some of this acreage is currently managed by O & C 
lands. If so, there are concerns that O & C land would be devalued by a 
change in management designation. If this is the case, as the bill 
moves through the legislative process, I will seek the redesignation of 
other lands outside the preserve in order to maintain the wholeness of 
O & C land and the timber base.
                                 ______