Tuesday,
May 15, 2007
Domenici Submits Water
Conflict Resolution Amendment to Water Resources Development Legislation
Source: US Senator Pete Domenici
Domenici offered the amendments to Senate legislation (S.1495) that would reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), the outdated law that authorizes appropriations for water resource projects, study authorizations and policy modifications for the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program. The Senate could complete work on the bill this week.
Based on examples set by the Corps in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories, one Domenici amendment would create the Center for Computer Aided Dispute Resolution within the Corps’ Institute for Water Resources. The center would use the most advanced computer resources, combined with conflict resolution techniques, to find mutually acceptable solutions to ever-increasing conflicts over water resources.
“We in New Mexico have experienced all forms of water conflict both in terms of current uses and in planning for future uses,” Domenici said. “I have seen this approach work in practice in test cases for planning in the Middle Rio Grande, evaluations of water quality trading in the Wilmette River in Oregon, management planning on the Great Lakes, and conflict resolution on the Mexican and Canadian borders. These initial cases have shown their value. Now it is time to greatly expand these tools and applications and bring the skills and tools to all of our water resource managers.”
Domenici’s second amendment would authorize the Southwest Flood Damage and Sediment Transfer Research Program, a project to improve the fundamental understanding and applied tools needed to manage sediment in river systems in the West.
“Sediment problems, like the one that blocked the Rio Grande in 2005, do not get sufficient attention,” Domenici said. “This program is as important as our research in eastern rivers and should grow to be comparable in scale and impact. It will improve our nation’s water resource management and the management of key western rivers.”
This Domenici amendment is based on early work and partnerships established by the Corps of Engineers with key sediment research organizations in the West including the University of New Mexico, the Desert Research Institute and Sandia National Laboratories.
At Domenici’s request, the Senate’s WRDA package already includes three specific projects for New Mexico:
- The Bosque/Middle Rio Grande Restoration (bosque park proposal);
- The Southwest Valley Flood Damage Reduction Project (continuation of detention basins and pumping station construction in Albuquerque’s Southwest Valley); and,
- The Rio Grande Environmental Management Program (river restoration and management).
Domenici is ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee that provides funding for WRDA-authorized projects.
Contact:
CHRIS GALLEGOS (202) 224-7082