Twenty-two participants to present water proposals at committee's water conference
The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee staff has selected 22 groups to present and discuss their proposed solutions to the challenge of meeting the nation's ever increasing demand for water. This half-day bipartisan conference is scheduled for Tuesday, April 5 at 2:15 p.m. in Washington, D.C.
The committee announced the conference earlier this month and invited the public to submit written proposals that address various aspects of domestic water challenges. The committee received more than 130 proposals from the public, utilities, environmental organizations, universities, think tanks and state and federal agencies.
Republican and Democrat policy staff reviewed the proposals and selected 22 groups to present 23 proposals for discussion at the conference. (One group will present more than one proposal.) While the committee initially asked the public to address six topics, the drought issue will now be considered at a separate committee hearing. In the interest of time, the remaining five questions have been condensed into four.
The participants will each have two minutes to introduce their proposals and make their main points. The remaining time will be used to debate proposals and field questions. The public and media are invited to attend.
The participants and the topics they will address are below. The list is subject to change in the event of cancellation. Representatives from some federal agencies not included as participants may be on hand to provide technical support and answer background questions.
The list of participants, conference guidelines and the text of proposals to be discussed at the conference can be found on the committee website at: http://energy.senate.gov/.
Question 1: Water Supply and Resource Management Coordination
Participants:
Metropolitan Water District
State of Colorado Department of Natural Resources
Carlsbad Irrigation District
Trout Unlimited
American Rivers
Chuck DuMars
Idaho Department of Water Resources/Idaho Water Resources Research Institute
Question 2: Future of the Bureau
Participants:
National Water Resources Association
WateReuse Assocation
Western States Water Council
Family Farm Alliance
City of Santa Fe
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Question 3: Indian and Federal Reserved Water Rights
Participants:
Western States Water Council
NM State Engineer
Nordhaus
Native American Rights Fund
Question 4: Conservation and Technological Developments/Knowledge of Water Resources
Participants:
Awwa Research Foundation
General Electric
Environmental Defense
National Groundwater Association
City of Albuquerque
Texas Water Development Board
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.