Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water

by Marc Reisner

June 18, 1979, was a dull day on the floor of the House, even duller than most. Little was going on, so hardly anyone was there. Bob Edgar was one of the many who were absent, and he still hates himself for it. He was one of the few Congressmen who might have been suspicious enough to stop what was about to take place. “Duncan walked in waving a piece of paper,” Edgar recalls. “He said, ‘Mr. Speaker! Mr. Speaker! I have an amendment to offer to the public-works appropriations bill.’ Tom Bevill and John Myers of the Appropriations Committee both happened to be there. I wonder why. Bevill says, ‘I’ve seen the amendment. It’s good.’ Myers says, ‘I’ve seen the amendment. It’s a good one.’ And that was that. It was approved by voice vote! No one even knew what they were voting for! They were voting to exempt Tellico Dam from all laws. All laws! They punched a loophole big enough to shove a $100 million dam through it, and then they scattered threats all through Congress so we couldn’t muster the votes to shove it back out. I tried—lots of people tried—but we couldn’t get that rider out of the bill. The speeches I heard on the floor were the angriest I’ve heard in elective office. For once, a lot of my colleagues were properly outraged. Senator Baker and Representative Duncan couldn’t have cared less. They got their dam.” A few days later, the House passed the appropriations bill with the Tellico rider still in it. The Senate followed suit, 48–44, despite two earlier votes again...