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Letter to LR
July 30, 2001

Commissioner Keys Responds

United States Department of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation
Washington, D.C. 20240

Owen Lammers
Executive Director, Living Rivers
P.O. Box 466
Moab, UT 84532

Thanks for your letter of July 18, 2001. I am indeed excited about being the 18th Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. It gives me the opportunity to work with water users and water user organizations all over the West to address our many pressing water issues.

I am especially honored to be the Commissioner or Reclamation during the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Reclamation Act of 1902, which created the Bureau of Reclamation. There's much more to a centennial celebration than just looking back at what has happened over the last 100 years. We can be proud of our accomplishments over that time, but we must also look to the future to see how the Bureau of Reclamation and its facilites can best be used to help meet the resource management challenges of the next 100 years in the West.

The Bureau of Reclamation will be good stewards of our valuable land and water resources. In some cases, that means guarding our remaining free flowing rivers and streams. In other cases that means using our multi-purpose reservoirs for all of their varied intended uses. We can manage the releases of water from our reservoirs to meet multiple uses thorughout its flow to the end user. Water can be used for recreation while stored in the reservoir, then for hydro power generation when it is released, for instream flows, fish and wildlife, and additional recreation while in the river, for water quality control in the river, and in the end for irrigation, municipal and industrial needs, and domestic water supply. The challenge for all of us is to manage these flows in a manner that is best for the water users, the river, and its associated ecosystem.

The Bureau of Reclamation is, and will continue to be, an agency of the future. We will remember our heritage, but we will recognize that traditional project needs must be balanaced with ever increasing and changing demands for water so that we can be the best stewards of our water resources in the future.

Some of the points raised in your letter are issues that we can work on with you and your organization. Some of the points have already been addressed, and we should get on with business with the decisions that have been made. The Bureau of Reclamation will meet all the rules, regulations and laws that Congress has passed to govern our work. We will meet our contracts for water deliveries, when at all possible. We will work closely with all water users to try to find new and innovative ways to meet their needs. We will work closely with the states to comply with the water rights they administer, and, we will work with all of the Native American Tribes to fulfill the Department of the Interior's trust responsibility to them.

With all of that said, I believe that you will see a Bureau of Reclamation for the 21st century that is well versed in collaborative and cooperative approaches to complex and contentious water problems, a Bureau with the expertise to meet the technical challenges of making those water deliveries and generating the power needed by our country, a Bureau that is environmentally sensitive, and a Bureau that is responsive to the ever changing needs of our society.

Thanks again for your intriguing letter. I hope to see you in Moab sometime in the near future. Maybe you can buy me an ice cream cone.

Sincerely,

John W. Keys, III
Commissioner

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Last Update: October 30, 2007

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Living Rivers    PO Box 466     Moab, UT 84532     435.259.1063     info@livingrivers.org