 The Western United States is a large and mostly dry region of the country. It has sweeping panoramas and tall mountains. It yields huge quantities of agricultural products and provides the work and play for millions of Americans. The key to the West's success is water. A good deal of the water in this part of the country is made available by the Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau develops, operates and maintains water projects throughout the 17 western states. Because this area is so vast, the Bureau is divided into five regions based primarily on river basins. The largest of these regions is the Great Plains region. The Great Plains region is huge. It covers a nine-state area, including the eastern two-thirds of Montana. All of North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. The eastern three-fourths of Wyoming. The eastern half of Colorado. All of Kansas and Oklahoma. And all of Texas, east of the Pecos River. Today, here in Powell, Wyoming, we're celebrating the 80th anniversary of the first delivery of irrigation water to the Garland Division of the Shoshone Reclamation Project. I'm Burl Churchill. I've lived here for 51 years and our sons are the fourth generation who have farmed this land. This project, the Garland Division of the Shoshone Reclamation Project, was one of the first built by the Bureau of Reclamation. As you can see from the festivities, it's lost none of its significance over the years. The water made available through this project continues to provide a major economic basis for much of this area. This celebration today is extremely appropriate to the times. Not only is it a time for the community to say thank you, but it's also a time for us to remember how important water was in the development of the Great Plains. Water projects such as the Shoshone were a major influence in the early settlement and growth of the West. Later, during the hard years of the Depression, construction jobs created by these projects proved invaluable. Following World War II, Congress authorized the Pick Sloan Missouri Basin Program, a wide-ranging water development plan. It focused on controlling flooding in the Missouri Basin. Developing hydroelectric power. And providing irrigation water for agriculture. Over the years, many of the Bureau's projects in the region were constructed under the Pick Sloan program. By the early 1980s, virtually all of the projects that were economically and financially possible had been built or were under construction. In addition, environmental concerns, the growing federal deficit, and agricultural surpluses contributed to a greatly reduced construction program in the Bureau. These changes brought about the eventual consolidation of three of the Bureau's regions, producing today's sprawling Great Plains region that stretches from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. The Bureau's mission is changing. For years, we were primarily a construction organization. Now, we've become more focused on resource management, conservation, and environmental protection. Instead of building large dams and water delivery systems, the emphasis today is on increasing benefits at existing facilities. This often involves making physical improvements or changing the way facilities are operated. Much more emphasis is also being given to groundwater recharge. Water quality maintenance. And cleaning up toxic materials. Construction work, though still important, will be of a different nature in the future and will generally involve smaller projects, though the region is completing several major projects. Potential projects will continue to undergo a full range of physical, social, and economic investigations. One of our biggest jobs today is operating and maintaining dams, power plants, and water delivery facilities already in place. Paramount to this task is ensuring that all these facilities are safe. The Great Plains region is administered through its office of the regional director in Billings. This office is organized by function. Within the region, there are eight main field offices. The Oklahoma-Texas Project's office is in Oklahoma City. In Texas, it oversees five projects that primarily provide municipal and industrial water to many communities in the state. The projects also provide flood control and considerable recreation. The most ambitious bureau project in Texas is the Canadian River Project. It uses over 300 miles of pipeline, 10 pumping plants, and three regulating reservoirs to provide water to 11 cities and towns in the northwest part of the state. Twin Buttes Dam and Reservoir are the main features of the San Angelo Project. This project provides irrigation water for 10,000 acres of agricultural land in the Concho River area, as well as municipal water for San Angelo. There are six projects in Oklahoma. Five of the projects were constructed to supply water to cities and towns, as well as provide flood control and recreation benefits. The other project, the W.C. Austin Project, provides irrigation water for nearly 50,000 acres of farmland, in addition to providing water to the city of Altus. The main project featured is Altus Dam. The Oklahoma Texas Project's office is also responsible for the Wichita Project in Kansas that provides municipal and industrial water to Wichita. The Oklahoma Texas Project's office also provides liaison with the states of Texas and Oklahoma. The Eastern Colorado Project's office in Loveland is responsible for the Frying Pan Arkansas Project in the southeastern part of the state. And the Colorado Big Thompson Project in the north-central part of the state. The Colorado Big Thompson is one of the most complex projects ever undertaken by reclamation. It includes over 100 water and power facilities which store, regulate and divert water from the Colorado River on the west slope of the Continental Divide to 125 water user organizations on the east slope. The project's main features are 10 reservoirs, 3 pumping plants, 7 power plants, and the 13-mile-long Alva B. Adams Tunnel under the Divide. The Colorado Big Thompson Project provides irrigation water for about 720,000 acres of farmland and serves more than 400,000 people in the South Platte River Basin. The Frying Pan Arkansas Project diverts west slope water through a tunnel under the Continental Divide to the Arkansas Valley on the east slope. The project has five storage reservoirs and one pump-back storage unit with power-generating capacity. The terminal storage feature is Pueblo Dam and Reservoir near the city of Pueblo. The reservoir has become one of the most popular recreation spots in the state. The largest and most technologically advanced fish hatchery in Colorado is located near the base of the dam. Water from the Frying Pan Arkansas Project provides supplemental irrigation for 280,000 acres and serves the 430,000 people in the Arkansas River Basin. The Nebraska-Kansas Project's office, headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska, manages facilities that deliver water to more than 300,000 acres of farmland. It provides water for municipal use and provides water for recreation and fish and wildlife habitat. This office oversees facilities in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska. The Nebraska facilities provide water to over 50,000 acres of farmland along the Frenchman and Republican rivers. In Kansas, water is stored and delivered to farmland, totaling 150,000 acres. The Nebraska-Kansas Project's office also oversees the North Loop Project with the region's newest facility, Calamus Dam near Burwell, Nebraska. Calamus and Davis Creek Dam and Reservoir currently under construction will supply irrigation water to farmland in the Loop Valley. Calamus has already become an important recreation site for area residents. The facilities administered by the North Platte River Project's office provide irrigation water to nearly 335,000 acres of farmland in the North Platte River Basin. Headquartered in Mills, Wyoming, the office includes a master supervisory control center, which allows remote control of many functions at several dams and power plants on three river systems. Among the water systems managed by this office is the North Platte Project, which includes Pathfinder Dam, one of Reclamation's oldest. This project includes a second storage dam, a diversion dam, and power plant. Two other units managed by the North Platte Project's office are Cortis and Glendo, both part of the Pick Sloan program. The Big Horn Basin Project's office in Cody, Wyoming oversees the Shoshone Project and the Boisen and Riverton units of the Pick Sloan program. The Shoshone Project provides irrigation water to about 90,000 acres of Big Horn Basin farmland. Major modifications to Buffalo Bill Dam, it's being raised 25 feet, will provide additional flood control and more storage capacity. Project Power will come from a new 18 megawatt plant downriver from the dam and rehabilitation of the old Shoshone power plant. The Boisen unit on the Wind River includes Boisen Dam, Reservoir, and Power Plant. Although built primarily for power generation, this unit provides irrigation water to about 20,000 acres. The Riverton unit provides full-service irrigation water to 60,000 acres in the Wind River Basin. Storage is provided by Bull Lake. The Belfouche Project's office in Newell, South Dakota is responsible for all Reclamation activities in South Dakota as well as Keyhole Dam and Reservoir in Eastern Wyoming. The office directly operates and maintains four dams. This office oversees work on the $95 million Web Rural Water Project in the eastern part of South Dakota. Already supplying water to households and bulk users, Web will serve about 30,000 people in a 10-county area when completed. Another major effort in this office is the rehabilitation of the 80-year-old Belfouche Project. This project will restore reliability and efficiency to the Belfouche facilities. It will conserve about 20,000 acre feet of water lost each year to seepage. In Montana, the region's operations are managed by the Montana Project's office in Billings. This office is responsible for most of the land, recreation, and facilities at Bureau projects throughout the state as well as the Buford-Trenton Project in North Dakota. Major projects managed by the Montana office include Yellowtail and Canyon Ferry. The Yellowtail Field Office, headquartered at Fort Smith, Montana, manages the 525-foot-high Yellowtail Dam, Power Plant, and After Bay Dam. The After Bay Dam regulates the widely varying releases from the Power Plant. Yellowtail Dam impounds 66-mile-long Big Horn Lake, a national recreation area. The project also provides irrigation water and flood control. The Canyon Ferry Field Office is 17 miles northeast of Helena. The principal facilities are Canyon Ferry Dam and Power Plant. A variety of recreation facilities have been developed around Canyon Ferry Reservoir, making it a popular area in both summer and winter. In addition to power and recreation, the Canyon Ferry Project controls floods and provides water for irrigation in the Helena Valley. The Missouri Surus Project's office in Bismarck, North Dakota has operations and maintenance responsibility for three reservoirs. It also manages four irrigation district contracts. The major focus of the Missouri Surus Office has been the Garrison Diversion Unit, an extensive project authorized in 1965 to provide irrigation and municipal water to a wide area of North Dakota. Construction of Garrison has been intermittent as concerns and controversies arose over possible impacts and projected costs. Canada is concerned about project waters which flow out of the U.S. into Canada. In 1986, Congress reduced the amount of irrigated land in the Garrison Diversion Unit from about a quarter of a million acres to 130,000 acres. The first delivery of water occurred in 1988 at the Oaks Test Area, a 5,000 acre unit designed to test the effects of irrigation on water quality. Legislation also authorized federal funding for development of municipal and industrial water systems and established a trust fund to acquire, protect and restore wetlands and wildlife habitat in North Dakota. It's hard to comprehend the size, geographical diversity and range of projects in the Great Plains region. And this region, perhaps more than any other reclamation region, reflects society's changing needs and the public's perception of water development in the West. The Great Plains region has grown and adapted as the focus of the Bureau has changed. Its future lies in helping state and local water users make the most efficient use of their limited water resources.