| Show White House water projects meeting US U.S. Senator Jake Garn says that two things were accomplished accomplished ac ac- ac at the meeting held last week at the Executive Office Building for or Members o of Congress whose states are affected by the cut In water project funds First the President agreed to move the hearing for the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project from Washington to Salt Lake City Secondly the President learned how stron strong the or o- OPposition OP- OP position to his cuts is is The meeting was very well attended by Senators and Congressmen both Democrats and Republicans from every I state stat affected by the presidents president's cuts said Senator I Garn and we were very I candid In our comments to the I President about what we think I of his decision Garn said however that he feels eels the President is and will remain firm in his decision to eliminate the projects and that it will be up to the Congress to keep the necessary funds in the budget TilE THE MEETING l set was up primarily to give the President the opportunity to pacify those of us whose states are affected by his action said Garn His decision to move the hearings from rom Washington to the states is certainly a concession It will make a better belter hearing record and make It much easier for or us to defend the projects and I 1 hope that the President after seeing the evidence will change his mind But my feeling is that h he will remain firm in his opposition opposition opposition op op- op- op position and It will be up to Congress to fund the projects The Sena tor said that with all the talk about cost cost benefit benefit ratios ra lIos environmental and safety concerns no one has answered what he considers to tobe tobe tobe be the most basic question Where do we get water to support our population I was Salt Lake City's Water Commissioner for seven years so 1 t know what t the problems and potential problems are are said Garn With the drought situation this year the Salt Lake City Water Department Is drilling new wells and talking about limiting water con con- There is talk of prohibiting water hookups Cornew for Cor new homes Outside the Wasatch Front the problem is more severe because of the agricultural need for water Someone in the Administration has got to approach the real problems and answer that most basic q question Garn con con- The members of Congress were deeply concerned about the apparent role of the environmentalists environmentalists environmentalists en en- in the budget cuts said Senator Orrin G G. G Hatch Utah R-Utah It Senator Hatch report by the Bureau of Reclamation which shows in each of the 19 water projects designated for no funding there is a direct correlation in the failure to meet environmental tests and discontinuation of funding ignoring ratio cost-ratio factors Speaking specifically about the Bonneville Unit of oC the Central Utah Project Senator Hatch said This unit of the project has been challenged in both Federal District Court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and has been found to tobe tobe tobe be environmentally sound The decision to cut the projects would then seem to presume judgment superceding court decisions he added In the course of the meeting President Carter indicated that he had relied almost totally on the judgment of members of his staff and had only made a cursory review of the water projects All of oC us want a balanced environment but we dont don't want it at the expense of our water supply Senator Hatch said He added I think we can have both but not with the arbitrary and capricious making decision-making exhibited in the discontinuation of funding for Cor these 19 water projects |
