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AS OTHERS SEE ITBureau Needs Policy Review Ra1A Ralph Nader task force report seems to exaggerate the faults of the Bureau of Reclamation, It is basically right, though, in calling for a review of the agency's practices ^ vThe bureau has performed yeoman service in the arid NEWWest for more than half a century, bringing millions of marksacres of land under irrigation, Hundreds of communities and gets tithousands of fanners feel a debt to the bureau, CoBecause of its popularity with Its Western constituents, did tinthe bureau probably has been loo satistled wHtnts^oHcics, you?'With the environmental movement, with national dissatisfaction over farm payments, and now the Nader report case Use bureau can no longer expect a smooth ride tear.t chosoassume that any dam on any river will go unchallenged, wsubject to nothing but itw own generous analysis. u,‘*‘Without a copy of ilie Nader report it is difficult to judge 11its contents. News reports quoted nothing good about the bu. tei, Kreau, and much can bo said in defense of its total record f-ehnand its current management of reclamation projects, ■ ^The basic questions arise over projects yet to be built. cio mNader’s task force said while the taxpayer spends millions mgiis.to help the bureau irrigate new land, the crops produced contribute to crop surpluses -and drive other fanners out unoasof business. It noted that the taxpayer also pays billions you’v.to curtail farm production, —. . . I __________r. HO ^.-.mincr and tfmncr '■ U-•Thus the taxpayers are hit coming and going,”While irrigators repay part of the cost of bureau makeprojects, they are also generously supported by tax cotimbu- a mi.tions, by artificallv low interest rates, and by revenues from Jfederal power projects the taxpayers have helped to build, whatWith interest costs, current projects probably cost double withthe quoted figures. .• The basic justification for many projects must lie in a methe necessity of bringing new land under irrigation. With the bed ;present level of crop surpluses, and billions being spent to hold yust^down production, that argument doesn't sell nationally. he wWhile he challenged some of the basic elements of the out areport, Reclamation Commissioner Ellis Armstrong seems tto have conceded this point, He said there is no longer a thatneed to irrigate vast new areas; “Most of the land that can waribe irrigated is irrigated,,” . '°°rA postscript should be added, For the present, there is a yousurplus of productive farm land, As (he nation’s population Igrows and the world’s population grows, that situation may Bugchange, A realistic assessment of the need for new Irrigation everis needed.The bureau's strongest constituency may not be farmers, ou=rbut other economic interests which benefit from its proj- daleeets. Farmers gain if the bureau augments existing inadequate water supplies, but net if new land is irrigated to produce bigger surpluses.White the Nader report was particularly critical of the ^bureau’s dams, there are other ways to irrigate lard in LolIdaho — including conservation and better use of existing water, iourecharge the ground water in the vast Snake River Plain menaquifer and pumping to aff-slream reservoirs, tie^The current controversy over the Lower Teton project in Idaho illustrates some of the complaints against the bu- ptelreau. A strcn? case can he made that the benefits - if measur- reaed honestly —’can't Justify a $10 mil lion project, and that lessexpensive alternatives exist-such as pumping to provide wilsupplemental water, actual reimbursement of property Olivers for flood damage ora system of levees, or rechargenatusnesandfarimof the Snake Plain aquifer as another means of storage, forhasThe tureau, with strong political support, has refused to even study alternatives. Last year it began preliminary work on Lower Teton without consulting a sister agency, huethe U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, as required it':by law. *sWhen bids for the dam construction were opened two upweeks ago, the lowest was $3,5 million above the bureau’s es. tin ate— tending to support a contention that the bureau underestimated the costs, A bureau spokesman said anything within 25 per cent of the estimates was all right.At least some government -agencies couldn'i get by withsuch flabby figuring.On the whole, the bureau’s record is far better than die Li news stories on the-Nader report suggest. But 1 he line has come for a more objective look at the way it operates and the way it calculates the value of projects.The bureau should continue to serve the West and :he nation if i« takes steps So bring Us own operation into lir.e *Uh current realities. - The Idaho Daily Statesman.vothith-jl/\'•uhear
Newspaper Details
Idaho State Journal
Pocatello, Idaho, US
Wed, Nov 17, 1971
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
New M.
NM, USA 25 Nov 2019
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