Environmentalists Triumph as Dam Project Is Scuttled

The Bush Administration gave environmentalists a major victory Tuesday--and infuriated Denver’s business and political elite--with a formal proposal to veto construction of the Two Forks Dam, a giant water project that had enjoyed unswerving support from the Ronald Reagan Administration.

The dam and reservoir, planned for the spot where two forks of the South Platte River meet about 30 miles southwest of Denver, would help to meet urban water needs along the front range of the Rockies well into the next century.

But it would flood much of Cheesman Canyon, a postcard-perfect stretch of forest renowned for its trout fishing.

The struggle over construction of Two Forks emerged earlier this year as one of the first major environmental decisions facing President Bush when he entered the White House. Last March, Bush’s Environmental Protection Agency chief, William K. Reilly, announced his tentative decision to kill the dam.

Local Outcry

That announcement sparked an outcry from local officials and led to a more detailed EPA review of the project. But the regional director of EPA’s Denver office, James Scherer, generally considered a supporter of the dam project, was given no role in the review. Instead, the task was handed to Lee A. DeHihns, a Senior Executive Service official from the EPA’s Atlanta office.

Tuesday, DeHihns announced the EPA’s proposal to veto the dam, citing “the significant loss of aquatic and recreational values” along the trout stream and “the availability of less damaging practicable alternatives” to meet the Denver area’s water needs.

DeHihns said the dam would “inundate a diverse riverine and upland habitat that contains one of the highest fish biomasses of trout in the western United States”--in other words, that the South Platte through Cheesman Canyon is cherished country for fishermen.

He also expressed concern about the dam’s impact on water flow downstream, particularly in Nebraska, where whooping cranes and other birds nest along the Platte each spring.

There now will be two months of public comment and perhaps hearings on the veto recommendation before it becomes final. But supporters and opponents of the proposed dam said Tuesday’s announcement was a near-fatal blow.

Different Course

The action demonstrated Bush’s willingness to steer away from the course taken by Reagan on environmental issues.

Local water officials here say they received regular support and encouragement from federal agencies over the last eight years of planning for Two Forks. Just a few days before Reagan left the White House, his Administration gave the dam a final stamp of approval when the Army Corps of Engineers ruled that the project would not violate the Clean Water Act.

EPA’s announcement angered Sen. William L. Armstrong (R-Colo.), an advocate of the project. “To string people on for 10 years and 40 million bucks worth of planning, and then pull the rug out, is inexcusable,” he said.

Armstrong bemoaned the fact that Two Forks came up for final approval just when Bush’s new team at EPA was eager to establish the President’s environmental credentials. “It arrived at the most critical time,” Armstrong said. “Six months later, it might not have been vetoed.”

Denver Mayor Federico Pena, a Democrat, joined the chorus of critics. “This decision is a political statement . . . that leaves us high and dry,” he said. “The people of Denver deserve and demand more than that.”

But conservation groups were unstinting in their praise of Bush and Reilly. “The President said he was an environmentalist,” said Carse Pustmueller of the National Audubon Society. “And when he killed an unneeded project to save this beautiful canyon, he proved that he is.”

DeHihns offered no specific alternatives for meeting future water needs here but said greater conservation efforts and smaller dams on the South Platte would help to provide water that Two Forks would have supplied.