Feds Pronounce $ 4B Dam "Unrealistic" - Rugged Individualist Farmers Upset

[hatrack]

"A statement by the federal Bureau of Reclamation's chief that the $4 billion Black Rock Reservoir project is unrealistic has angered project supporters, who said Wednesday that they aren't ready to discard their dream. Reclamation Commissioner John Keys said in a National Public Radio interview Tuesday that, "I think the concept of a large federal facility being built in the future is gone."

Keys said it's unrealistic to think his agency would pay the entire tab to construct the project, which would be the largest dam built in the West since Grand Coulee. He said such a project today would require substantial investments also from state, local and even private sources. "The annual operating cost on that facility is almost $100 million," Keys told NPR. "The local people, I don't think they can even pay the O&M on that thing."

Black Rock would divert Columbia River water into a massive lake east of Yakima. The stored water would be used for area agriculture so water could be left in the Yakima River to protect endangered fish. Bureau spokeswoman Diana Cross in Boise said it may be time to strike Black Rock Reservoir from the list of four options under study for more water storage in the Mid-Columbia.

"Large federal projects, 100 percent federally funded, are not going to happen," she said. "There are serious reservations, and part of that is based on economics." Cross said money now going to study Black Rock may be redirected toward studying other options to improve Yakima watershed storage."

EDIT

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/6403112p-6281978c.html

[FtWayneBlue]

1. but of course, there is plenty of money for war profiteering -

the war pigs keep getting fatter.

[Viking12]

2. Who's gonna pay for the engineers??

FEDERAL SCIENTISTS TOLD TO RAISE RESEARCH FUNDING — Each Must Generate $110,000 a Year to Avoid Bad Performance Rating


Washington, D.C.— Federal scientists working for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have been ordered to raise funds to support their research projects or face unfavorable performance evaluations, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The scientists are tasked with finding private, state and other federal sponsors to buy the scientists’ time.

These scientists are not trained in fundraising nor do their position descriptions include generating financial support. Nonetheless, to achieve a “fully successful” rating the scientists are to find sponsors willing to pay for 70 to 89 percent of their total time (called “billable hours”) calculated on the basis of fifty-two 40-hour workweeks. As a result, each Bureau scientist at the GS-11 level or higher, for example, has to solicit between $712 and $848 per day to meet acceptable standards.

“These fundraising quotas pressure federal scientists to make their conclusions palatable to potential public and private sponsors,” stated PEER Program Director Rebecca Roose. “This policy puts the dollar value above the quality or importance of the scientific work.”

The new “Productivity Critical Element” for high-grade scientists set the following fundraising quotas for each “Performance Standard”:

-more below the fold-
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=514

[phantom power]

3. Our new Starving Beast certainly is grand.

During the Great Depression, the government built dams everywhere, brought electricity to rural americans, created national parks.

Not that I'm a fan of building dams, but it sure is a wake-up call to hear the government say they can't afford a project like this.