Babbitt Unveils Truce, Praises California for Saving Water

In a sentimental farewell speech to 750 water officials from states that depend on and bicker over the Colorado River, U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on Thursday announced a truce in a decades-long fight that has pitted California against six other states.

Babbitt told the annual gathering of the Colorado River Water Users Assn. that California, the biggest consumer of the river’s water, deserves credit for cutting back on its water use and for reaching agreement between its various warring water factions.

“There were times in which I thought California should be called the Banana Republic of California for its inability to get together,” Babbitt said to laughter. “But they finally did.”

As his last major effort at solving the water disputes that have flared across the West for more than a century, Babbitt and Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes brokered a deal to allow California to continue receiving more than its share of Colorado River for 15 years.

In exchange, the state has promised to increase its conservation programs and reduce its take from the river during drought.

Even anti-California hard-liners conceded that the state has changed its water strategy.

“So many of us have been so busy pounding on California over the past 10 years that it’s time to say, ‘You’ve really accomplished a miracle,’ ” said Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Las Vegas-based Southern Nevada Water Authority.

Water use in the six counties served by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is about the same as it was nearly three decades ago, despite a population increase of 5 million, Babbitt said.

But lest anyone think water will recede as an issue, the secretary said his successor will need to pay careful attention to the California “step-down” plan and to other Colorado River issues, particularly those involving Mexico and the ailing delta region on the Gulf of California.

“There is an ever-broadening future,” said Babbitt, only half-joking, “for our children as [water] lawyers and hydrologists. And make sure they study Spanish.”

Joseph Sax, a UC Berkeley law professor and water expert who has served as a key Babbitt advisor, said later that “the next big issue on the Colorado River is Mexico and the environmental dimensions.”

As interior secretary, Babbitt has been an activist in Western water matters, giving priority to settling long-standing Indian water claims in California, Utah and Arizona and to redirecting water from agriculture to environmental needs in California and other states.

He has also authorized the destruction of 20 dams.

None of those stands is particularly popular with the water users association, which is dominated by agencies whose goal is to provide water for cities and farms.

In fact, Babbitt’s loudest applause came when he pledged that Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona--loved by water agencies but despised by environmentalists--”is not in any danger of coming down.”

With a Republican administration set to assume control in Washington, Babbitt warned the water officials not to be tempted to join with opponents of the Endangered Species Act.

The act is often criticized by water officials and some conservative Republicans for prohibiting the construction of dams and reservoirs.

But Babbitt said any attempt to kill the act is doomed to failure because polls have consistently shown that a large majority of Americans support it.

Babbitt in past years has used his annual speech to chastise California, particularly the Imperial Irrigation District, which is entitled to 75% of California’s allotment of Colorado River water and has been criticized by other states as a prime example of water wastefulness.

But now the district has agreed to sell some of its water to parched San Diego County in the largest water transfer in the nation’s history. The deal is key to California’s reducing the amount of water it takes from the Colorado River.

“I’m confident California is committed, has its act together and will get there,” Babbitt said.