Chenoweth, Others Decry Clinton ‘Water Grab’ Lawmakers See Rivers Program As Attack On Private Property Rights

Fri., Dec. 12, 1997

By Susan Drumheller susand@spokesman.com

Calling President Clinton’s American Heritage Rivers program a “water grab,” U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth and three other lawmakers have filed a lawsuit against the administration.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the same day nominations to include rivers in the program closed.

“President Clinton is attempting to do what he has absolutely no authority to do - place federal officials in charge of the future of the nation’s rivers and communities,” Chenoweth said.

Supporters of the program point out that it does not create any regulatory laws for rivers. Instead, based on a community plan, it provides more federal resources for developing parks or historical sites, economic development and environmental protection.

The Idaho Conservation League, the Friends of the Clearwater and the Clearwater Biodiversity Project together filed an application to nominate the Clearwater River as an American Heritage River earlier this week.

The Nez Perce Tribe is interested in nominating the river for the designation next year.

“I think it’s a good project,” said Gwen Carter of the Nez Perce Tribe’s water resources department. “What we liked about it was everybody would have to talk to each other. There would be a more coordinated approach to managing the river.”

Also, the program promises to bring economic benefits to the area by helping promote tourism and recreation as the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition approaches, she said.

Chenoweth and other critics, however, see the program as another attack on private property rights.

She sponsored legislation this year that would cut off funding for the program. But given the bill’s slim chance of becoming law, she and Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., and Rep. Bob Schaffer, R-Colo. filed the lawsuit. “A lawsuit might be quicker,” explained Chenoweth spokesman Chad Hyslop. “It asks for an injunction on the program.”

The members of Congress are represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation in Denver.

“Clinton’s scheme to manage the nation’s rivers is clearly illegal and unconstitutional,” said the foundation’s chief legal officer, William Perry Pendley. “It’s not the president, but Congress that regulates navigable waters.”

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