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New dam chief puts emphasis on efficiency
Connor: Bureau of Reclamation needs to lead on climate change
Herald Denver Bureau
We need to be aware of our food supply and food-security issues.
- Michael Connor, new commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation
Once known for a single-minded focus on building dams, Reclamation now has to start paying attention to climate change, American Indian water rights and a secure food supply, said Michael Connor, who was sworn in Monday as the agency's commissioner.
Connor, a graduate of the University of Colorado law school, spoke Thursday at a Western water conference at his alma mater.
"Our water supply is going to be changing. The way that water comes to us is going to be changing. That's absolutely one of the key challenges that we need to be preparing for," Connor said, referring to studies that show rising temperatures are bringing less snow and earlier spring snowmelt.
The bureau is the lead agency on the Animas-La Plata water project. It used to build scores of similar large dams, but the dam south of Durango might be among its last.
Animas-La Plata was built to settle Indian water-rights claims. Nationally, about two dozen other tribal settlements are looming.
The effect of the Indian settlements on Western water is unknown, but it could be profound, said Jennifer Gimbel, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, who spoke on the panel with Connor.
"That is for the West the one item that's the black hole. We need to take care of those settlements. We need to have the certainty, and we need to be fair to the tribes," Gimbel said.
The Obama administration is working hard at formulating its water policy, Connor said, but he admitted it is lagging behind other natural-resources policies such as climate change and energy.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar swore in Connor on Monday and quickly brought him along to meetings on Salazar's top agenda items - energy and climate, protecting landscapes, better treatment of Indian tribes and creating an updated youth conservation corps.
"The Bureau of Reclamation has a significant role to play in each of those areas. (Salazar) knows that, and I know that," Connor said.
The bureau needs to take a lead role in climate-change adaptation, Connor said. For starters, he wants to emphasize efficient use of water. The long-term decline of agriculture and the use of more farmland to grow crops for biofuels also make him concerned.
"We need to be aware of our food supply and food-security issues," Connor said.
Reclamation got $1 billion from the stimulus bill - about as much as its annual budget, Connor said. Rural water projects will get some of that, although his agency has a $620 million backlog of rural projects. And a recent bill that Congress passed added another $350 million in rural water projects, including repairs to Jackson Gulch Reservoir near Mancos.
At the same time, Gimbel said, states are hard-pressed to pay their share of the projects because, like Colorado, most states are undergoing severe budget cuts during the recession.
Gimbel learned to like and respect Connor when he was the senior staff person for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
"He can be a very tough negotiator. When he wants to get things done and sets on it, he gets it done," she said.
jhanel@durangoherald.com
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