JOHN W. KEYS III COMMISSIONER, BUREAU of RECLAMATION July 17, 2001-April 15, 2006 ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS JOHN W
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JOHN W. KEYS III COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION July 17, 2001-April 15, 2006 ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS JOHN W. KEYS III 1994-2006 Denver, Colorado 2007 Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë STATUS OF INTERVIEWS: OPEN FOR RESEARCH Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Interviews Conducted by: Brit Allan Storey Senior Historian Bureau of Reclamation Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Ë Oral History Program Bureau of Reclamation Processed: 2006-2007 Printed and Bound: 2008 SUGGESTED CITATION: KEYS, JOHN W., III, ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW. Transcript of tape-recorded Bureau of Reclamation Oral History Interviews conducted by Brit Allan Story, Senior Historian, Bureau of Reclamation, from1994 to 2006, in Denver, Colorado; Boise, Idaho; Washington, D.C.; and Moab, Utah. Edited by Brit Allan Storey. Repository for the record copy of the interview transcript is the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland. Record copies of this transcript are printed on 20 lb., 100% cotton, archival quality paper. All other copies are printed on normal duplicating paper. i TABLE OF CONTENTS JOHN W. KEYS III ........................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................... i STATEMENT OF DONATION ............................................ xiii INTRODUCTION ........................................................xv BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF JOHN W. KEYS III .............................. xvii ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS.............................................1 Early Life and Education ..............................................1 Early Acquaintance with Reclamation Projects.............................1 Decides to Seek a Job in the West .......................................1 How the Decision to Become a Civil Engineer Was Made....................2 Chose to Go to Georgia Tech...........................................3 Interviewing with Reclamation .........................................3 Took the Engineering in Training Exam ..................................4 Offered a Job in Ogden, Utah...........................................4 Life and Reclamation in Utah...........................................5 Enters the Rotation Engineer Program....................................6 Assigned to the Hydrology Branch ......................................6 Doing Seepage Loss Studies............................................6 Sizing Reservoirs ....................................................7 Assigned to Develop Computer Operation Studies for the Central Utah Project ...7 Works on an M.S. at Brigham Young University ..........................10 Development of Pseudo One and Pseudo Two, Computer Programs ...........12 Career Plan Developed in Utah ........................................13 Moves to Bismarck and Becomes Branch Chief in Hydrology................14 How the Family Fit into Utah..........................................17 Water Skiing on the Canal at Roosevelt, Utah.............................17 Doing a Seepage Study in the Altamont Area .............................17 Moving to Bismarck.................................................18 Flood Studies ......................................................21 Precipitation Studies.................................................22 Degradation Studies.................................................23 Flood Plains .......................................................23 Ed Lundburg Was Project Manager in Bismarck ...........................24 First Environmental Impact Statement for the Garrison Diversion Project.......24 Status of a Project Manager ...........................................25 Regional Directors ..................................................25 Planning Projects, Then and Now ......................................27 Concerns about the Garrison Diversion Project ............................28 Echo Park and Floyd Dominy ..........................................29 Commissioner Floyd Dominy ..........................................30 Oral history of John W. Keys III ii Commissioner Gil Stamm............................................ 30 Commissioner Dennis Underwood ..................................... 30 Moves to Billings in 1971 as Regional Hydrologist ........................ 31 Finished Master's Degree in 1971 ...................................... 32 It Took a Long Time to Be Accepted in Bismarck ......................... 32 Billings Accepted Newcomers Quickly .................................. 33 Reclamation Grade Structure During Early Career......................... 34 How Work Changed Between the Project and Regional Offices .............. 35 Budgeting ......................................................... 35 Dealing with Problem Employees...................................... 36 Water Quality Studies on the Garrison Diversion Project .................... 37 Reclamation and the Oahe Project...................................... 38 Poor Public Involvement and the Oahe Project ............................ 39 Evolution of Reclamation's Planning Processes ........................... 42 The 1972 Flood in the Black Hills ...................................... 43 Bucket Survey in the Black Hills ....................................... 43 Modifications of Buffalo Bill Dam ..................................... 44 Providing Water to the Coal Fields in the Area of Buffalo Bill Dam ........... 45 Appearance on 60 Minutes ........................................... 45 Yellowstone River.................................................. 46 Dam in Paradise Valley.............................................. 46 Evolution of Environmental Documents under NEPA ...................... 47 Environmental Statements Required Alternatives Were Added to Work........ 48 Trying to Get Around NEPA .......................................... 49 “NEPA Was a Cultural Shift for this Country. .” ......................... 50 Began Refereeing Football in Billings ................................... 53 Asked to Judge Rodeo ............................................... 54 Hobbies and Flying ................................................. 54 Leaves Billings to Be Chief Hydrologist in Denver ........................ 55 Became Head of the Colorado River Water Quality Office .................. 56 Title I and Title II of the Salinity Control Act ............................. 56 O’Neill Unit on Niobrara River in Nebraska .............................. 57 Original NEPA Work on the Garrison Diversion Unit ...................... 58 Desalting and Effects on Landowners ................................... 60 Yuma Desalting Plant ............................................... 63 Never Liked the Denver Office........................................ 65 Applied to Be Assistant Regional Director in Billings ...................... 65 Applied for Management Training ..................................... 65 Applied to Be Assistant Regional Director in Boise in 1980 ................. 66 The Job of Assistant Regional Director.................................. 67 Didn’t Travel Much as Assistant Regional Director........................ 67 Why Regional Directors must Travel So Much............................ 69 Salmon Issues on the Klamath River.................................... 69 Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation District .................................... 70 Gold Plating Good Projects and Raising Costs ............................ 74 Projects That Come in under Cost ...................................... 74 Tough Jobs ........................................................ 76 Project Offices in Pacific Northwest Region.............................. 76 Bureau of Reclamation History Program iii Ochoco Dam Replacement ............................................77 Keith Higginson as Commissioner......................................79 Robert Broadbent as Commissioner.....................................80 Dale Duvall as Commissioner .........................................80 Reclamation Reform Act .............................................81 Dennis Underwood as Commissioner ...................................83 Dan Beard as Commissioner ..........................................83 Jim Ziglar Orders Reorganization of Reclamation by the Regional Directors.....85 Assessment ‘87 .....................................................85 Floyd Dominy as Commissioner .......................................86 Ellis Armstrong as Commissioner ......................................87 Gil Stamm as Commissioner ..........................................87 Teton Dam Failure Was the Low Point for Reclamation.....................87 Effects of the Failure of Teton Dam on Reclamation........................89 Relationship of Denver Office and Regions...............................91 Quickly Wanted to Leave Denver ......................................92 Dan Beard’s Approach to Moving Responsibility to the Area Offices ..........93 How Responsibilities Are Split under Dan Beard’s Reorganization ............94 How Priorities Are Adjusting under Dan Beard’s Reorganization .............95 Combine Reclamation with the Corps? ..................................97 Title Transfer ......................................................98 Water Rights and Storage Rights......................................101 Study Team to Look at Administrative Functions in Reclamation ............103 Combining Upper and Lower Missouri Regional Offices...................104 Amarillo Office Combined into Great Plains Region .......................104 The Issue of Resources Versus Money..................................104 Last Major Authorization