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 RECLAMATION Issue Alert
11/11/05 by Family Farm Alliance
Exhaustive Inventory Includes Hundreds of Western Projects
The Bureau of  Reclamation Sends Storage Study to Congress
Reclamation this week submitted a report to
Congress that identifies nearly one thousand potential
hydroelectric and water supply projects in the Western United
States that have been studied but not constructed. To meet conditions
of the Energy Act of 2005, Reclamation on November 8 submitted a
comprehensive inventory of Western water storage and hydroelectric
projects to the U.S. House Committee on Resources and the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
During the development of this report, the Family Farm Alliance
provided Reclamation with a data base that encapsulates a similar, but
less comprehensive, effort developed by Western water users earlier
this year. The Alliance effort and two similar reports prepared in Idaho
were referenced in an appendix to the Reclamation report. Although
the Energy Bill focuses on studies associated with hydroelectric
projects, Reclamation’s inventory addresses all storage projects,
including those without appurtenant hydro features.
According to Reclamation, this inventory serves as a useful reference tool for understanding the magnitude
and scope of historical study activities in specific locations. Reclamation surveyed a significant number of
reports for this inventory, many of which included studies of or references to one or more projects. Over 450
other non-hydro storage projects were also identified.
T
November 11, 2005
.
“Inventory of Reclamation
Water Surface Storage
Studies with Hydropower
Components”
The final report (a one-inch thick
document) lists hundreds of water
supply projects, and includes columns
that address:
• Level of analysis;
• Purposes;
• Major features;
• Water yield;
• Power production at capacity:
• Estimated cost;
• Identified environmental impacts;
• Other factors that might affect
progress of projects.
The report contains no
recommendations.

Inventory of Reclamation Water Surface Storage Studies with Hydropower Components; Report to Congress Implementing Provisions of Section 1840 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-58) 11/11/05 PDF

Family Farm Alliance members were complimentary
of the comprehensive nature of the study developed by
Reclamation.
“It’s a pretty impressive list of projects,” said Ron
Jacobsma (CALIFORNIA), general manager of the Friant
Water Users Authority, and a member of the Alliance
Advisory Committee.
Inevitably, new demands for urban and environmental
water are met by reallocating water supplies away from
farmers. The Alliance believes it is possible to meet the needs of cities and the environment without
sacrificing Western irrigated agriculture, and earlier this year released a data base that shows there are many
supply enhancement projects already on the books that achieve that goal.
“To protect family farms and ranches, we must expand the water supply in the West,” said Alliance
Executive Director Dan Keppen (OREGON). “The Reclamation inventory – like the 2005 Alliance database –
will provide a useful planning tool for local and state interests trying to meet the undeniable growing water
demands of the West.”
“There is a lot of information here that speaks to Reclamation's historic role as a developer of water and
power resources,” said Dick Moss (CALIFORNIA), Chairman of the Alliance’s Technical Advisory Committee.
“As our growing economy changes, some of these projects may make sense today, when they didn't make
sense in the past.”
Bureau of Reclamation officials have been asked to provide an overview of the Energy Bill report at the
Family Farm Alliance March 2006 annual meeting in Las Vegas.
For More Information, Please Contact:
DAN KEPPEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, (541) 850-3113, kep@cvcwireless.net
The Family Farm Alliance is a grassroots organization of irrigation farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts and related
interests in the 17 Western states served by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. For the past 16 years, The Alliance has
had but one mission: to ensure an adequate and reliable supply of water for irrigated agriculture in the West.
For more information on the Family Farm Alliance – go to www.familyfarmalliance.org.
Reclamation’s Recently Completed
Storage Inventory
 
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