On Thursday, March 13th, the House will vote on a bill that would prohibit federal agencies from protecting instream flows on rivers across the country. H.R. 3189, known as the “Water Rights Protection Act,” undermines the authority of agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service to keep water in rivers for fish, wildlife, recreation and aesthetics. Although the bill is being presented as a fix for a narrow water rights issue between the ski industry in Colorado and the Forest Service, it takes a broad swipe at all federal agencies that manage rivers throughout the U.S. If you're a paddler and have enjoyed spending time on rivers that are influenced by a hydropower dam, chances are good that you've benefitted from the very laws that H.R. 3189 seeks to undermine.
If passed, H.R. 3189 would:
– prohibit the Forest Service from protecting and restoring flows at hydropower projects for recreation;
– stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from requiring flows that help salmon find fish ladders so that they can safely pass over dams;
– place broadly supported multi-year and multi-million dollar settlement agreements to restore iconic western rivers at risk, and;
– undermine fundamental principles of states’ rights by creating a new federal definition of a water right.
Make your voice heard and contact your Representative now!
American Whitewater and our partners work hard each day to protect and restore the things that you value about rivers, from whitewater recreation to fish and wildlife. Negotiating for these flows is tough, and dam operators and other water rights holders always get the lion’s share of the water. But they do not get it all. Through our partnerships with Federal agencies and water users, we develop creative solutions to protecting instream flows and maximizing benefits for fish populations and outdoor recreation. While it's an uphill battle every time, the laws that empower the agencies consistently allow us to protect the public values of our rivers.
There are many competing uses for our rivers that need to be balanced. As the snow melts and begins to fill rivers, and we begin to hang up our skis and get our paddles wet, we understand that there is a natural connection between skiing and paddling. We're disappointed to see that the ski industry has joined with other extractive water users to hamstring federal agencies that protect flows for fish, wildlife, and paddling. While the ski industry has a legitimate need for certainty about their water rights for snowmaking, they don’t need this bill to provide that certainty. The U.S. Forest Service is already working to resolve the dispute over water rights on national forest land in Colorado, protecting rivers on public lands and upholding important principles of water law.
H.R. 3189 was introduced last fall by Congressional Representatives Scott Tipton and Jared Polis, however Representative Polis recently withdrew his support for the bill. American Whitewater encourages the House to stand up for our rivers and the people who love them. We hope that you will contact your Representatives and make your voice heard.