Transcript

John Keys/Laird Lucas: To leave water in-stream is a state issue

Keys: The court case you are talking about is Minnow vs. Keys [UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO, April 2002] on the middle Rio Grande. Actually there are two or three facets, not Jeffs, but facets to that whole case we are trying to look at. The ruling was just made a week before last, but it said that the biological opinion [BO] there is adequate but that we should consider the irrigation efficiency in the district and then maybe release water for the endangered species from that contracted amount of water. We are still trying to figure out how that works. Now your question is, what are we doing to try to help provide water for instream flows? We are working with every irrigation district in the West on water conservation projects. They have to have a water conservation clause in every contract that we do that says they will help conserve water and beneficially use it.

Lucas: Is there a federal program to help provide incentives to farmers to save water and then take that water and leave it in stream though and if not, how can we get there?

Keys: Well, we have programs that help conserve water, but leaving it in stream is a state issue. In other words, we can't get in and dictate to a state how they set their state water rights.

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