{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://tipton.house.gov/press-release/tipton-grills-interior-secretary-blueways", "Tipton Grills Interior Secretary on Blueways", "2013-07-17", "2013", "2013-07", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Scott Tipton", "T000470", "tipton.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Secretary says she is putting Blueways on hold, pledges to stand with Colorado in protecting state water rights\nWASHINGTON\u2014Today, during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing, Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) questioned Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on two issues with broad implications for Colorado\u2014a potential endangered species designation of the Gunnison sage grouse and the Blueways Order.\nJewell\u2019s predecessor, Secretary Ken Salazar, issued Secretarial Order 3321 establishing the National Blueways System.\u00a0 This is a \u201csource to mouth, watershed-wide\u201d federal program about which little is known, and which has raised the fears of many local water conservation districts who are already doing an outstanding job of managing precious water supplies.\nMany local water users fear that the National Blueways Order managed by a committee of federal bureaucrats will result in potential diversions of privately held water rights and the violation of state law, under which those rights are granted. Tipton has expressed numerous concerns with this in the past stating that, \u201cThis Order has the potential to further the Administration\u2019s steady erosion of state water law, by inserting clunky federal regulatory authority over Western waterways, disregarding state water law, and casting aside a century of local conservation efforts to responsibly protect and manage our precious water supply.\u201d\nDuring her opening testimony Secretary Jewell stated that she would be putting Blueways on hold while she learned more about it.\nTipton asked Jewell if she finds a fundamental flaw in the Blueways program.\n\u201cI am just beginning to understanding what it is and I think there is still further definition. [\u2026] there\u2019s clearly a lack of understanding and that\u2019s why I put it on pause,\u201d Jewell said.\nTipton followed up by asking if \u201cIs it appropriate for non-local groups to be able to submit rivers for designation?\u201d under Blueways.\n\u201cI don\u2019t mind people submitting comments, when I tell you about local community input, I mean local communities. That\u2019s where you want these things to come from. That\u2019s my understanding of the program,\u201d answered Jewell.\nTipton then asked the Secretary, \u201cWith the Blueways designation, with the state of Colorado as an example, you would support us in the position of being able to protect the private property rights\u2014private property rights include water in the state of Colorado and for most of the west, also we have state laws, priority based systems. Will you stand with us to make sure those are protected?\u201d\n\u201cOf course,\u201d answered Jewell.\nWatch their full\u00a0exchange here.\u00a0\nTipton also asked the Secretary during the hearing if she would accept a recent invitation from him and Sens. Bennet and Udall to visit Colorado during the next six months to see the local Gunnison sage grouse conservation efforts that are taking place. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that it would delay making a determination on whether to designate the grouse as endangered for six months. Read more here.\nBackground:\nIn February, Tipton joined 22 of his colleagues in urging Secretary Salazar to withdraw the Blueways Order, writing, \u201cWater is the lifeblood of our communities, and it should be managed for the benefit of the community in a transparent fashion. [\u2026] Any designation by a federal agency that directly or indirectly attempts to manage the non-navigable headwaters of many of our nation\u2019s rivers would be a usurpation of state authority.\u201d\nIn June, Tipton again joined a number of his colleagues on the Natural Resources Committee in in a letter to Secretary Jewell regarding the National Blueways Order, requesting an explanation from Secretary Jewell for the lack of public process and expressing concern about the involvement of controversial Interior official Rebecca Wodder in promoting Blueways designations.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://tipton.house.gov/press-release/tipton-grills-interior-secretary-blueways"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.545553095638752, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}