©2026 League of Conservation Voters
1996 Scorecard Vote
221
200
12
Issues
Enmeshed in controversy since its conception in 1968, the Bureau of Reclamations Animas-La Plata water project would use hydropower from other federal dams to pump water from the Animas River in southwestern Colorado uphill I,000 feet into an adjacent watershed to irrigate marginal agricultural land. The project would destroy wetlands, threaten fish and wildlife, deplete water flows in the Animas and San Juan Rivers, and degrade water quality in New Mexico, at a total cost of $714 million.
Reps. Tom Petri (R-WI) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR) proposed an amendment to H.R. 3816, the Fiscal Year 1997 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, to cut all $10 million in 1997 funding for the Animas-La Plata project. On July 24, 1996, the House adopted the amendment, 221 – 200. YES is the pro-environment vote. (See Senate vote 10.)
©2026 League of Conservation Voters