[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SMITH (for himself and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 166. A bill to amend the Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 
to reauthorize the participation of the Bureau of Reclamation in the 
Deschutes River Conservancy, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources.
  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 River Conservancy for an 
additional 10 years.
  The Deschutes River Conservancy, formerly know as the Deschutes 
Resources Conservancy, was originally authorized in 1996 as a pilot 
project. It was so successful it was reauthorized in the 106th 
Congress. The Conservancy is designed to achieve local consensus for 
on-the-ground projects to improve ecosystem health in the Deschutes 
River Basin.
  The Deschutes 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 River Conservancy 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 
Conservancy board members have been able to develop project criteria 
and identify a number of water quality, water quantity, fish passage 
and habitat improvement projects that could be funded. Over the years, 
projects have been selected by consensus, and there must be a fifty-
fifty cost share from non-Federal sources.
  Over the past 8 years, they have been very successful at finding 
cooperative, market-based solutions to enhance the ecosystem in the 
basin. The Conservancy has used this approach to restore over ninety 
cubic-feet-per-second of streamflow in the Deschutes Basin. In 
addition, by planting over 100,000 trees, installing miles of riparian 
fencing, removing berms and reconstructing stream beds, the Conservancy 
has helped improve fish habitat and water quality along one hundred 
miles of the Deschutes River and its tributaries.
  The existing authorization provides for up to two million dollars 
each year for projects. This bill would continue that annual 
authorization ceiling for 10 years. Funds are provided through the 
Bureau of Reclamation, the group's lead Federal agency.
  The Deschutes River 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 that Federal participation in this project needs to 
continue. This organization has helped to avoid the conflicts over 
water that we have seen in too many watersheds in the western United 
States. I urge my colleagues to continue support for this project. Not 
only is it important to central Oregon, but the Deschutes River 
Conservancy can serve as a national model for cooperative watershed 
restoration at the local level.
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