Russ Feingold: “I wanted to make a statement on a matter of concern to me in the FY 99 Energy and Water Appropriations legislation. As…”

“I wanted to make a statement on a matter of concern to me in the FY 99 Energy and Water Appropriations legislation. As my colleagues know, I have long been active in raising Senate awareness about the financial costs of moving forward with development and construction of the full-scale version of the Animas-La Plata project. I am concerned that Section 505 of the legislation before us may require the federal government to proceed with construction of the full-scale project, just at the time when the Congress is about to get additional information from the Bureau of Reclamation about alternatives to that project. As my colleagues will recall from the debate on an amendment I offered to the FY 98 Energy and Water Appropriations legislation on this matter, the currently authorized Animas-La Plata project is a $754 million dollar water development project planned for southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico, of which federal taxpayers are slated to pay more than 65% of the costs. As described in the Committee Report on the legislation now before this body on page 80, the total federal cost associated with this project is now more than $512 million.”