©2026 League of Conservation Voters
1981 Scorecard Vote
188
206
38
Conte (R-MA) – Dingell (D-MI) amendment to the fiscal year 1982 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill to delete $4 million in planning funds for the Garrison Diversion Water Project in North Dakota. This amendment was an attempt to cut off funding for the Project, which would ultimately cost over $1 billion. The Garrison Diversion would flood nearly as much productive farmland as it would irrigate (220,000 compared to 250,000 acres), providing an $800,000 subsidy to each benefited farm. It would cause more damage to the National Refuge Wildlife System than any project in history, destroying or damaging 12 such areas, many of them major breeding grounds for waterfowl. It would also destroy large areas of native prairie and prairie wetlands, and pollute rivers flowing into South Dakota, Minnesota and Canada. The Canadian government claims that construction of Garrison would violate the U.S. – Canadian Boundary Waters Treaty (see vote description #6). Amendment rejected 188-206; July 23, 1981. YES is the pro-environmental vote.
©2026 League of Conservation Voters