Russ Feingold: “This amendment is the product of negotiations of a number of Senators and provides that none of the funds appropriated…”

“This amendment is the product of negotiations of a number of Senators and provides that none of the funds appropriated in this bill for the Animas-La Plata project can be expended for construction until the Secretary of Interior submits a report on a new scaled-down project design and the new project is actually authorized by Congress at a date subsequent to the date of the enactment of this bill. Mr. President, what this amendment means is that we will stop and evaluate what should be done before we spend more Federal dollars on this project. As colleagues may recall from my statement last year on this matter, the currently authorized Animas-La Plata project is a taxpayer-funded water development project planned for southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico. The project is designed to supply 191,230 feet of water. The Animas-La Plata project consists of two major reservoirs, 7 pumping plants and 20 miles of canals and pipes and will pump water over 1,000 feet uphill, consuming enough power to run a city of 60,000 people to supply municipal, industrial and irrigation interests.”