In rare cases since 1993, the Forest Service has required owners of water rights to leave a portion of their water in the river to benefit fish and wildlife downstream. In exchange, the water user can cross federal land to get access to the water.
Opponents claim that deprived water users of longstanding access to the water.
Phillips said the policy is still being revised and he did not see the change as drastic, but Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., and other opponents declared victory. McInnis and Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., had asked Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman earlier this year to return to a 1992 standard for renegotiating water rights. But Charles Gauvin, president of the wildlife conservation group Trout Unlimited, argued that it makes sense in some cases to use the access to federal land as leverage to make enough water stays in rivers to sustain wildlife and habitat. The water rights are renegotiated only when existing claims expire. Bypass flows have been a condition of renewal for only 15 of the 8,000 rights issued by the Forest Service.