The Ineffectiveness of Using the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to Implement Environmental Enhancement in the Rio Grande Canalization Project

Abstract

The case of the Rio Grande Canalization Project (RGCP) illustrates the limitations in the use of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as a tool for implementing environmental enhancements in a situation where past decisions greatly altered ecosystem functions of a large river system. NEPA's utility as a tool for implementing its own stated environmental enhancement goals is analyzed for the case of the RGCP using information gathered through: literature research; public meetings sponsored by the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission; personal interviews with individuals at these meetings representing interest groups involved in the creation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for River Management Alternatives for the Rio Grande Canalization Project (DEIS-RGCP); and analysis of correspondence included in the DEIS-RGCP commenting on the project. Groups including Native Americans and Spanish settlers influenced the Rio Grande ecosystem in the area of the RGCP, and three projects significantly altered the landscape of the RGCP: the Elephant Butte Project, which included Leasburg, Mesilla, and Percha Diversion dams and the irrigation infrastructure of canals and drains; Caballo Dam; and the RGCP itself. A conceptual framework based on scientific understanding of river system function at the landscape scale helps analyze the effects of human modification on ecological functioning of the Rio Grande and the difficulties in restoring the isolated section of the Rio Grande encompassed by the RGCP. This research reveals that NEPA is ineffective in achieving its own goals in situations like the RGCP—a situation steeped in an extensive history of prior decision-making that constrains the available range of management options.