Gazette

McCain reverses stance on Colorado River

August 21, 2008 12:21 AM

By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD

THE GAZETTE

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain reversed course Wednesday, saying he would not push Western states to renegotiate the Colorado River Compact, an idea that caused an uproar among Colorado politicians from both parties in recent days - "over my dead body," U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar said.

McCain backed away from comments published last week in the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper that suggested he would support renegotiating the 1922 compact that governs the sharing of Colorado River water among seven Western states.

"I don't think there's any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil. So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties," the newspaper quoted McCain saying in an interview in a story published Friday. "I think that there's a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource."

In a letter Wednesday to Sen. Wayne Allard, a Colorado Republican with whom he has communicated frequently over the years on water issues, McCain wrote that his comments were "mistakenly construed" as a call to rescind the compact and begin new negotiations among the states.

"Let me be clear that I do not advocate renegotiation of the Compact," McCain wrote. "I support constructive, continuing cooperation and dialogue among the states and the water users in a manner that is fully consistent with the Compact.

"A federally driven scheme to reopen the Compact would run afoul of my long held respect for the importance of state law and local prerogatives in the allocation of water resources," McCain wrote. Rather, he wrote, the federal government should ensure the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation assists with water storage projects throughout the basin and helps states implement the compact.

Tom Kise, McCain spokesman in Colorado, said that the letter speaks for itself, and that he had no further comment.

The Colorado River Compact dictates how much water each of seven Western states can use from the river. A groundbreaking document, it has guided development in much of the West for 85 years.

The compact is also a long-simmering source of conflict. The formula that determined how much water each state gets assumed there would be more water in the Colorado River than has proven true over the long term. Until the compact was revised last year, upper basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico faced the prospect of water shortages in drought years because California, Nevada and Arizona - McCain's home - were guaranteed the same amount of water each year.

Last year's revision forestalled litigation over shortages, but water experts predict long-term shortages in the basin as populations continue to boom, particularly in the more arid southern basin states.

The published comments attributed to McCain drew criticism from elected officials in both parties in Colorado.

"Any effort to try to amend the compact in the way that was suggested by Senator McCain is something that would only happen over my dead body," said Salazar, a Democrat, Wednesday morning. He and other Colorado officials bristled at the idea of the compact being renegotiated based on population growth in other states, for fear water users here could lose out.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, joined Salazar in a conference call Wednesday. Ritter questioned Mc-Cain's follow-up letter.

"The word ‘renegotiate' does not have a double meaning," Ritter said. "It has to demonstrate in my mind a bias for the lower basin states."

The Ritter and Salazar conference call was organized by the campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The Obama campaign jumped on McCain's originally published remarks.

Even some Republicans distanced themselves from Mc-Cain's published statements.

"The senator is proud and happy to support Senator McCain for the presidency, but he disagrees with him on this water issue. The compact should not be reopened," Allard spokesman Steve Wymer said Wednesday morning, before McCain sent the follow-up letter.

Later Wednesday, Wymer said Allard had communicated with McCain, and the Colorado senator was confident McCain does not intend to push for a renegotiation of the compact.

McCain supporter Bennett Raley a Colorado resident and former assistant interior secretary for water and science - President Bush's top water official - said Wednesday's letter "represents the definitive and conclusive commitment by Senator McCain to protect and preserve the compact."

Asked why McCain would make statements indicating a preference to renegotiate the compact, Raley said, "I was pretty sure there had been some sort of misunderstanding."

Misunderstanding or not, talk of renegotiating the compact may not ingratiate McCain with Colorado voters, said John Redifer, a member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board and a political science professor at Mesa State College in Grand Junction.

"It kind of surprised me that a presidential candidate who has already professed that Colorado will be a key state to his election effort would make a comment like that," Redifer said.

The fact McCain offered no specifics on renegotiating the compact and has backed away from the comment, could defuse the controversy, said Bob Loevy, a Colorado College political science professor.

"He was teetering on the edge there, I think, of getting into real trouble, and seems to have pulled back just in time," Loevy said.

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