A veteran Arizona water expert says the Trump administration has withdrawn his appointment and led a federal agency overseeing water management in the US West, leaving the Reclamation Bureau this year without a permanent leader.
Ted Cook told The Associated Press that he was preparing for a Senate confirmation hearing earlier this month, but his name has been removed from the agenda. Until this week he was not told there was an unspecified issue with his background check. Cook said the White House did not provide details and asked him only if he would withdraw himself from consideration.
“The real story here is that they were sacrificed at the altar of political convenience due to party politics and perhaps conspiracy in the Colorado River Basin,” Cook said, adding that he believes it is “to avoid a discussion about what the real problem is.”
Cook said he didn’t know what the problem was.
The shift comes as the department and seven states face deadlines to decide how to share the Colorado River amid ongoing drought and reduced supply.
The internal department overseeing the department introduced questions about Cook to the White House but did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment.
Trump’s announcement that he tapped Cook, former general manager of the Central Arizona Project, in June, attracted praise from many who said his experience of supplying water to the state’s most populous communities would be a positive for the bureau.
Still, other Western state officials were concerned that Cook would pay tribute to his hometown as negotiations over the future of the Colorado River came to mind. Water managers have been working on the prospects for painful reductions in the water as the rivers decrease.
The Colorado River is an important lifeline for seven US states, over 20 Native American tribes and two Mexican states. It powers millions of homes and businesses, irrigs vast areas of desert farmland, and reaches faucets in southwestern cities, including Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
In Mesa, Arizona, Mayor Mark Freeman celebrated Cook’s appointment in a social media post in June. On Wednesday, Republicans told the Associated Press that they were disappointed to learn that the nomination would not progress.
“Mr. Cook devoted his career to managing Arizona’s water resources, and his deep knowledge of the Colorado River system would have provided valuable insights during this critical time. His appointment was not confirmed, but the challenges before us remain,” Freeman said.
Uncastle, former chairman of the Upper Colorado River Commission, said in an email that the nomination withdrawal “seems like backroom politics when it’s a simple leadership on the issue of water in the West.”
Cook said he heard that his trick that his trick was fair and equal might have worked against him. He theorized that negotiating the Colorado River is not easy and may be pushing some officials to find “more ruthless” candidates.
Sarah Porter, director of Arizona State’s Kill Water Policy Center, said Cook’s withdrawal is missing the opportunity to have highly qualified people for work, but it is unlikely to disrupt the ongoing negotiations. She said the station’s acting leaders are working diligently to understand progress in river management.
She also doubted that Cook had raised her foot to Arizona by leading the bureau, saying, “Other decision makers and key stakeholders had said there was too much.
It is unclear whether the Trump administration is considering other candidates for the department’s top post.
Brian writes for the Associated Press.
