08/02/05 The new agreement on water management

It started two years ago, as two federal agencies were trying to deal with the issue of habitat protection of a listed Endangered Species. KNIGHT: And what we could do on the Missouri River for the Pallid Sturgeon and we were having various fits and starts on those relationships, and one day I called Lieutenant General Strock and said "Let's just get together, find out what we need to be working on, and make sure we're providing the right direction to folks. That's Bruce Knight, head of U.S.D.A.'s Natural Resources Conservation Service. His call was placed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And the resulting phone call, and discussions there after, led finally to the signing of an agreement between the two agencies last month. Called "Cooperative Conservation", the new partnership agreement brings N.R.C.S. and the Army Corps together to address a myriad of water management issues from wetlands conservation and creation to watershed planning and implementation. Knight elaborates that the agreement in reality formalizes what really is a strong partnership between the two agencies. KNIGHT: If you look certainly in the arena of wetlands, watersheds, water quality and water quantity, the two federal agencies that certainly touch the most private lands either voluntarily or from the regulatory side, it's either the Army Corps of Engineers or the National Resources Conservation Service. And there's a long history of partnership between the two. And that includes several employees of either agency working for the other at one point and time. Under the agreement, three national teams will review existing authorities and programs covered by both N.R.C.S. and the Army Corps of Engineers. Areas of concern will be identified. The next phase is the creation of as many as ten field teams to implement innovations and remove impediments that could get in the way of the new partnership. Now considering the presence that both agencies have in the Northwest & N.R.C.S. with various watershed management programs, and the Army Corps of Engineers with operations of several dams and waterways in the region & the agreement is expected to provide increased conservation benefits for the Northwest. Or as Deputy Secretary of the Army George Dunlop put it in the context of the entire agreement & DUNLOP: To collaborate and work together for the benefit of improving the quality and condition of the air, and the water, and soil, and flora and the fauna.