A comment by Republican presidential candidate John McCain about a
major U.S. water agreement has ignited a political firestorm in Western
states, particularly in a key swing state, Colorado.
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In an
interview last week with a Colorado newspaper, the Arizona senator said
he supports renegotiating the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which
allocates water among seven states.
"I don't think there's any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil," McCain told the The Pueblo Chieftain.
"So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated
over time amongst the interested parties. I think that there's a
movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate,
certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater
demands on a scarcer resource."
Politicians from both parties, environmentalists and editorial writers have quickly jumped on McCain's comments.
The
1922 compact divides the Western states into the Upper Basin --
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming -- and the Lower Basin --
Nevada, Arizona and California. Lower Basin states get 7.5 million
acre-feet of water a year, with the remainder going to the Upper Basin.
Officials
from Upper Basin states fear that any renegotiation of the compact will
result in more of their water going to the rapidly growing states in
the Lower Basin.
In response to McCain's comments, Sen. Ken
Salazar (D-Colo.) -- a former state attorney general -- said he viewed
the compact as "sacrosanct" and would allow renegotiation "only over my
dead body." Colorado's Democratic governor, Bill Ritter, and Rep. Mark
Udall (D) have made similar comments, as have various other local
officials.
But prominent Colorado Republicans have also
criticized McCain. Senate candidate and former Rep. Bob Schaffer has
told newspapers he would allow a change in the compact "over my cold,
dead, political carcass."
The reactions from Colorado are
particularly noteworthy. The state is a major battleground in this
year's presidential contests. Democrats are making a bid to capture
Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada -- states that Bush carried in 2004
with electoral votes that represented his margin of victory.
Colorado,
with its nine electoral votes, is the biggest single prize in the
group. A Rasmussen poll released last week showed McCain with a 49
percent to 48 percent lead there.
The poll was conducted
before McCain's comments. But several of Colorado's major newspapers
have criticized the comments, and some local opinion writers have
described the comments as "political suicide."
Environmental
groups -- who have a campaign presence in Colorado due to their
involvement in a pair of congressional races -- have already gone on
the offensive.
"John McCain's outrageous position that the
Western Water Compact should be renegotiated will set off a wave of
criticism that will come crashing down on his hopes to carry Colorado
and New Mexico," said League of Conservation Voters Senior Vice
President Tony Massaro in a statement. "It's one thing for a senator
from Arizona, or even California, to try to rustle water from the
states of the Upper Basin, but for a candidate for president, it is
stunningly tone deaf."
McCain did say later in the interview that he has no intention of taking water from Colorado or other states.
"Let
me make one thing perfectly clear: I would never advocate any course of
action that would damage the state of Colorado's rights over the water,
or any other water resources that is going to be one of the most
precious commodities for Colorado and the entire West," McCain said.
Still,
that comment appears to have been somewhat brushed aside in the brewing
political battle. The McCain campaign could not be reached for comment.
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