House panel OKs bill aiming to protect wildlife, water use

WASHINGTON -- A bill that aims to protect wildlife along the Colorado River while retaining water use rights for Nevada and two other states was approved Wednesday by a House committee.

The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program would create more than 8,100 acres of wetland habitat to protect 26 endangered and threatened species of birds and fish over the next 50 years.

At the same time, it allows for continuation of water use and electricity generation for Nevada, California and Arizona.

The legislation will help Nevada manage its scarce water resources while protecting the environment, Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., the bill's author, said following its approval by the House Natural Resources Committee.

"Protecting the long-term health of the lower Colorado River is vital to Nevada's future," he said.

Before approval the bill was amended to remove judicial review provisions Justice Department officials had said would open the government to water use lawsuits.

The area affected by the bill includes about 400 miles of river in Nevada, Arizona and California running from Lake Mead to the U.S.-Mexico border. The conservation program creates protective riverbank and marshland homes for the native animals. It also aims to boost fish populations by stocking the river with more than 1.2 million razorback sucker and bonytail chub fish.

The program originally was signed off on by the Department of Interior in 2005 after river officials, utility authorities and environmental groups created the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program in 1997.

The program will cost $626 million, half of which would be federal funding paid for through appropriations by Congress. The other half would be split among the three states, with California paying 50 percent of the remaining portion, and Nevada and Arizona paying 25 percent. Nevada's portion would be about $78 million.