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Strekal, Thomas A ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW THOMAS (TOM) A. STREKAL ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ STATUS OF INTERVIEW: OPEN FOR RESEARCH ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Interview Conducted and Edited by: Donald B. Seney in 1995, 1998, 2006 California State University-Sacramento For the Bureau of Reclamation’s Newlands Project Oral History Series ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Interview desktop published–2019 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Oral History Program Bureau of Reclamation Denver, Colorado SUGGESTED CITATION: STREKAL, THOMAS A. ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW. Transcript of tape-recorded Bureau of Reclamation Oral History Interview conducted by Donald B. Seney. Edited by Donald B. Seney and desktop published by Andrew H.Gahan, historian, Bureau of Reclamation. 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 Statement of Donation ................................................................................................................... iii Introduction .................................................................................................................................... iv Editorial Convention ....................................................................................................................... v Oral History Interview .................................................................................................................... 1 Early Life ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Cleveland Influence ..................................................................................................................... 4 College Education........................................................................................................................ 5 Going to Work for the State of Pennsylvania .............................................................................. 7 Joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ................................................................................... 8 Endangered Species Office .......................................................................................................... 9 Fish and Wildlife Service .......................................................................................................... 12 Coming to Nevada ..................................................................................................................... 14 Going to Work for Reclamation ................................................................................................ 18 Adjusting to Reclamation .......................................................................................................... 20 Monitoring Fish and Wildlife Service Activities for Reclamation ............................................ 21 Cui-ui ......................................................................................................................................... 24 Coordinating with FWS ............................................................................................................. 25 NEPA Activities ........................................................................................................................ 27 Truckee River Operating Criteria and Procedure ...................................................................... 30 Reflections on the Bureau of Reclamation ................................................................................ 31 Attaining a Diverse Federal Background .................................................................................. 33 Returns to Fish and Wildlife Service ......................................................................................... 35 Stillwater Refuge Manager ........................................................................................................ 37 FWS Culture .............................................................................................................................. 39 Responsibilities for the FWS ..................................................................................................... 43 Impacts and Mitigation .............................................................................................................. 45 Cui-ui Recovery Team ............................................................................................................... 46 Bureau of Indian Affairs ............................................................................................................ 48 Bureau of Indian Affairs and the OCAP ................................................................................... 51 Bob Pelcyger’s Influence ........................................................................................................... 53 Newlands Project Series Tom Strekal Oral History ii Truckee River Operating Agreement ........................................................................................ 55 Indian Affair’s Interest in the TROA ........................................................................................ 58 Making Alliances ....................................................................................................................... 59 Preliminary Settlement Agreement ........................................................................................... 61 Cui-ui Recovery Team Participants ........................................................................................... 63 Questions Regarding Cui-ui Recovery ...................................................................................... 68 Trust Responsibility ................................................................................................................... 69 Water Quality Agreement .......................................................................................................... 71 Water for Changing Demographics in the Truckee Meadows .................................................. 74 Truckee-Carson Irrigation District ............................................................................................ 79 Western Water Policy Review Commission ............................................................................. 82 Truckee River Operating Agreement Negotiations ................................................................... 86 Floriston Rates ........................................................................................................................... 88 Well-Drilling Requirements ...................................................................................................... 90 Credit Water to Newlands Project ............................................................................................. 92 Water Acquisition for Stillwater Wetlands ............................................................................... 94 Fernley Credit Water ................................................................................................................. 95 Fork in the Road ...................................................................................................................... 102 Keepers of the Document ........................................................................................................ 104 Editorial Committee ................................................................................................................ 105 Irrigation District and TROA .................................................................................................. 107 Walker River ............................................................................................................................ 111 Bill Bettenberg ......................................................................................................................... 112 Betsy Rieke .............................................................................................................................. 115 Truckee Carson Coordinating Office ...................................................................................... 116 Operating Agreement EIS/EIR ................................................................................................ 119 Bureau of Reclamation History Program iii Statement of Donation Newlands Project Series Tom Strekal Oral History iv Introduction In 1988 the Bureau of Reclamation created a history program. While headquartered in Denver, the history program was developed as a bureau-wide program. One component of Reclamation’s history program is its oral history activity. The primary objectives of Reclamation’s oral history activities are: preservation of historical data not normally available through Reclamation records (supplementing already available data on the whole range of Reclamation’s history); making the preserved data available to researchers inside and outside Reclamation. In the case of the Newlands Project, the senior historian consulted the regional director to design a special research project to take an all-around look at one Reclamation project. The regional director suggested the Newlands Project, and the research program occurred between 1994 and signing of the Truckee River Operating Agreement in 2008. Professor Donald B. Seney of the Government Department at California State University
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