Conrad: Budget cuts threaten projects

DECEMBER 19, 2005 | North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad in December expressed concerns that future North Dakota water projects are now threatened by the nation's deteriorating budget situation.
"Water is vital to life in North Dakota. Our challenge comes in ensuring that federal funding is available to provide safe, reliable water supplies for communities throughout our state," said Conrad at the 42nd annual North Dakota Water Convention. Conrad, who is ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, warned that many future water projects are now threatened by the nation's record deficit.
"Despite what you may have heard, the long-term budget outlook is not improving and now threatens funding for the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. Only those projects with the greatest merit-and/or strongest advocates-are getting funding within these tight times. Fortunately, we have several projects that fit that bill," Conrad said.
Conrad detailed his legislative priorities for 2006, including securing the water supply for the cities of Devils Lake and Fort Yates and completing the Grand Forks flood control project.
[December 8; Source: U.S. Senator Kent Conrad; Contact: Chris Thorne or Sean Neary (202) 224-2043]

TAKING ON THE MEXICO CITY FORUM A guest opinion in the Cook County News Herald of Grand Marais, Minnesota, blasted the approach taken at the March Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City which equated water rights with human rights.
"After the first day of the meeting, however, it became clear that the government and corporate agents were only interested in turning water management into a business opportunity, whereupon the NGOs and activists established an alternative forum intent on identifying access to clean water as a fundamental right . . . If we accept the position that water is a common good, and an inalienable right shared by all people, does that mean that folks in China or France have as much right to Lake Superior’s water as we do?
Perhaps we would be better served if we didn’t use the concept of human rights to justify our control of Lake Superior’s water, but rather, focused on Cibber’s observation that possession is eleven points in the law."