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McCain backs off Colorado River Water Compact claim after uproar

Aug. 21, 2008

An interview with a reporter for The Chieftain, the Pueblo, CO, newspaper, sparked a brushfire of criticism across the West for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. The Chieftain reported in an Aug. 15 article that McCain suggested the 1922 Colorado River Water Compact governing water sharing between upper and lower Colorado River states, i.e., California and Arizona, should be renegotiated. But the outraged response from across the region prompted McCain to recant his comments...

PUEBLO, CO, Aug. 21, 2008 -- An interview with a reporter for The Chieftain, the Pueblo, CO, newspaper, sparked a brushfire of criticism across the West for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. The Chieftain reported in an Aug. 15 article that McCain suggested the 1922 Colorado River Water Compact governing water sharing between upper and lower Colorado River states, i.e., California and Arizona, should be renegotiated. But the outraged response from across the region -- reported in newspapers in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, as well as websites and blogs from MSNBC, the League of Conservation Voters and HuffingtonPost.com -- prompted the Arizona senator to attempt to clarify and then recant his comments, according to a follow-up article Aug. 21 in The Chieftain that also includes an audio clip of the Aug. 14 interview.

Also see:
-- Enzi 'will be teaching' McCain about water (Casper Star-Tribune, WY)
-- McCain reverses stance on Colorado River (The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO)
-- McCain backs away from report on renegotiating Colorado River Compact (Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO)
-- McCain now says Western water pact should stand (Denver Post, Denver, CO)
-- McCain's Water Woes (The New West, Missoula, MT)
-- Gov. douses McCain's water remark (Casper Star-Tribune, WY)
-- Politicians bristle at idea of renegotiating Colorado River Compact (The Tribune, Greeley, CO)
-- McCain stirs uproar with call for renegotiating Colorado River Compact (The Salt Lake Tribune, UT)
-- State officials assail McCain's remarks on Colorado River Compact (The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO)
-- McCain: West needs long-term talks on Colo. River (Santa Fe New Mexican, NM)
-- McCain All Wet On Western Water Compact (League of Conservation Voters)
-- McCain's water remarks spark fire (MSNBC.com)
-- McCain to Colorado: Drop Dead! (HuffingtonPost.com)
-- Romney: McCain Doesn't Speak For McCain When He Suggests Renegotiating The Colorado River Compact (ThinkProgress.com)
-- Fallout from McCain's river compact comments (PolitickerCO.com)