Trump Administration ensures reliable water for the West | Guest Opinion

In the friendly rivalry between America’s coasts, it is easy to see why Westerners like myself claim that “The West Coast is the Best Coast.”

Whether you are swimming in the Pacific Ocean, hiking through the Cascade Mountains, camping and fishing along the Columbia and Snake Rivers, or wandering through one of the many national parks, forests, monuments, or wilderness areas, there are endless activities and natural beauty to experience. The Pacific Northwest is also home to some of America’s largest and most ubiquitous technology, manufacturing, and defense companies that impact the everyday lives of Americans.

With its headwaters high in the Canadian Rockies, the Columbia River gives life to the Pacific Northwest, following a circuitous path for more than 1,200 miles before emptying into the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. Its largest tributary, the Snake River, originates in Wyoming and travels more than 1,000 miles before merging with the Columbia River in Washington.

The river system provides critical irrigation for farming and navigation, allowing agricultural products, including Idaho’s famous potatoes and eastern Washington’s wheat, to be shipped all across the globe, and world-class recreation opportunities that afford Americans the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors.

For more than a decade, the Federal Government has been working with the region to complete the environmental review for the Columbia River System Operations (CRSO) and corresponding biological opinions.

As part of the Columbia River System, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration (co-lead agencies) operate and maintain 14 multipurpose dams and facilities, including the largest hydropower-generating complex in the United States, Grand Coulee Dam, which I had the opportunity to visit.

These important facilities are designed to meet multiple specified purposes, including flood risk management, navigation, hydropower generation, irrigation, fish and wildlife conservation, recreation, and municipal and industrial water supply. However, due to continuous litigation, the region has experienced uncertainty related to management of this entire system.

President Trump is changing that narrative.

On October 19, 2018, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum on Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West, which directed the co-lead agencies to complete the CRSO environmental impact statement and associated biological opinions by 2020.

Under President Trump’s leadership, the co-lead agencies are releasing the CRSO Record of Decision — the final step in the environmental review process. This announcement provides flexibility for the co-lead agencies to adapt to changing conditions in the Columbia River Basin, ensures that human life and safety can be protected through flood risk management, benefits fish and wildlife resources, supplies water to farmers and cities, and guarantees reliable and affordable hydropower.

By signing the Record of Decision, agencies are also completing the final outstanding actions under President Trump’s Western Water Presidential Memorandum.

These actions included completion of environmental reviews for other large water systems in the western United States, as well as actions to improve forecasting of water availability and expand the use of technologies to improve water reliability.

This major accomplishment, finished in under two years, is yet another example of promises kept to the American people, and of the President’s commitment to modernizing our infrastructure while also protecting our environment.

Whether you are exploring Mount Rainer or Olympic National Parks, enjoying Oregon’s coast, or kayaking through Hells Canyon in Idaho, it is easy to understand why so many say “The West Coast is the Best Coast” and why President Trump is making certain that this region will continue to flourish for current and future generations of Americans.

This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Trump Administration ensures reliable water for the West | Guest Opinion."