From: alra@governance.net Subject: S 895 -- Bureau of Reclamation Seeks More Power, Money and Employees Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association PO Box 400 - Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 - FAX: 360-687-2973 Email: alra@landrights.org or alra@governance.net Web Address: http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE - Washington, DC 20003 S 895 -- Bureau of Reclamation Seeks More Power, Money and Employees Attention all Lake Berryessa Allies. A new bill would expand Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) power, money and employees at exactly the time when BOR is showing at Lake Berryessa they cannot manage what they have. The new bill has passed the Senate. It would give the Bureau of Reclamation a huge increase in power, money and employees. The bill is S 895, the Rural Water Supply Act of 2005. This bill should be opposed in the House of Representatives. The Resources Committee in the House of Representatives sent out an information e-mail last month with a copy of the bill and a report about the bill from the National Academy of Sciences -- National Research Council (NRC). Chairman Richard Pombo is seeking input on the possibility of introducing the bill in the House. You can download a copy of S 895 and the National Academy of Sciences Report at www.landrights.org They are right on the homepage. The purpose as stated in S 895 is: To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a rural water supply program in the Reclamation States to provide a clean, safe, affordable, and reliable water supply to rural residents. The National Academy of Sciences Report is titled: Management of Construction and Infrastructure in the 21st Century. Why should you care? Because S 895 would be a huge increase in power and money for an agency that is out of control. The Bureau of Reclamation is not responsive to Congress and continues to abuse its power by evicting property owners and users from Lake Berryessa. Action Items: -----1. Call your Representative at (202) 225-3121 to urge him to oppose S 895. Tell him or her not to give BOR any more power until they save the people at Lake Berryessa and do a new Environmental Impact Statement there. Your Senator is probably not well informed about Lake Berryessa so may need to tell him or her about the BOR record there. We have listed some possible comments you might make below. -----2. Call the House Resources Committee in the House at (202)225-2761 to oppose their consideration of S 895 until the BOR fixes the problems at Lake Berryessa and stops the Kelo type evictions. -----3. Send a fax or e-mail to the Resources Committee in the House opposing S 895. Urge the Committee to hold up any action on S 895 until the BOR fixes the problems at Lake Berryessa. The fax number is (202) 226-8331. The e-mail is water.power@mail.house.gov -----4. Call at least three friends and urge them to make calls. -----5. Please forward this message to at least five friends. As many as possible. Background: (Here is the e-mail from the Resources Committee. This was broadly circulated by the Resources Committee in) From: Schrader, Kristin [Kristin.Schrader@mail.house.gov] Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 3:03 PM Cc: Weaver, Kiel; Schrader, Kristin; Dickson, Lane; Correia, Michael J. Subject: NRC Study on the Bureau of Reclamation and the proposed Rural Water Supply program -- Your Input is Needed Importance: High A note from Kiel Weaver, Staff Director, Water & Power Subcommittee--FYI: Attached you will find the recent National Research Council (NRC)study and report on the Bureau of Reclamation's Management of Construction and Infrastructure in the 21st Century. As many of you know, the Committee on Resources has held hearings over the past few years in order to help determine the future role of the Bureau of Reclamation. In light of increasing demands, very limited water and power supplies, ongoing environmental requirements and the need for the Bureau of Reclamation and other federal agencies to become more customer/consumer-friendly, the Committee welcomes the NRC's focus on the agency. The attached NRC report has been published while legislation (S. 895) is pending to create new Bureau of Reclamation rural water supply and loan guarantee programs. That legislation is attached as well. As many of you know, the Committee values the thoughts of Bureau of Reclamation water and power customers, as well as other interested parties. As such, the Committee is very interested in hearing from you on your thoughts on the NRC report and S. 895. Specifically, tell us what's good, what's bad or what's missing on the NRC report and S. 895. As has often been stated by full Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo and Water and Power Subcommittee Chairman George Radanovich, the Committee significantly values the thoughts of those who are impacted firsthand by Bureau of Reclamation laws and policies. Your "on the ground" experience is vital to the Committee's enhanced understanding of western water and power issues. It is very likely that hearings will take place early next year on the NRC report and S. 895, so your thoughtful input will be truly appreciated as the Committee examines these important issues. We respectfully request that you submit these comments to Kiel Weaver, Staff Director of the House Water and Power Subcommittee, by January 15, 2006. The best way to submit these comments is to kiel.weaver@mail.house.gov. Thank you for your involvement and dedication to protecting and promoting balanced water and power supply programs. Don't hesitate to contact us at 202-225-8331 with any questions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ***Here’s your message: ----- No Kelo type land grab by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) at Lake Berryessa. -----Stop the Record of Decision on the BOR EIS. Instead, do a new and fair Environmental Impact Statement. -----Stop the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) from using the pretext of “exclusive use” to eliminate users from Federal lands. -----Stop the use of ZONING at Lake Berryessa to reduce or eliminate use. That is the Water Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (WROS). -----Stop the BOR from using selective use of comments in their EIS process so they can no pay attention to users. ----- Insist that the Bush Administration officials listed above get involved and force BOR to take back their faulty Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and do it right. They only listened to the special interest groups. They ignored all the comments from users of the lake. ----- No private property should be taken without compensation. -----The must not remove the 1,300 trailer and mobile homes that cannot be moved under California law. -----They must not remove campsites or reduce access. They’ve already kicked out the Boy Scouts. -----They must allow the resorts that are at the lake to stay there. -----They must not reduce the use of motorized watercraft. This is man made lake. It is not a Wilderness, no matter how much they are trying to create one. ----- BOR must stop the removal of long-term tenants. ----- BOR must stop the discrimination against long-term users and motorized watercraft. -----BOR must throw out the present plan to cut down or eliminate public use and access by the general public, long-term site permittees, boaters, and dock owners. -----Administration officials must require the Bureau of Reclamation be good neighbors at Lake Berryessa. 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