My WebLink
|
Help
|
About
|
Sign Out
Home
Browse
Search
WSP08754
CWCB
>
Water Supply Protection
>
Backfile
>
8001-9000
>
WSP08754
Metadata
Thumbnails
Annotations
Entry Properties
Last modified
1/26/2010 2:49:32 PM
Creation date
10/12/2006 3:14:49 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Water Supply Protection
File Number
8210.110.60
Description
Colorado River Water Users Association
Basin
Colorado Mainstem
Date
12/12/1968
Author
CRWUA
Title
Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Annual Report
There are no annotations on this page.
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015
Laserfiche.
All rights reserved.
/
77
PDF
Print
Pages to print
Enter page numbers and/or page ranges separated by commas. For example, 1,3,5-12.
After downloading, print the document using a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader).
Show annotations
View images
View plain text
<br />NORMAN E. PEHRSON <br /> <br />State members are the seven states encompassed by the Colorado River Basin plus Oregon and Idaho. <br />All of the States have participated very actively in the four basin studies assigned to the PSIAC, and <br />have been a dynamic force in the various working groups. <br /> <br />At last year's meeting of this association, Mr. William Davoren of the Department of Interior <br />explained the composition of the main body of a framework study and its 18 specified appendices. I <br />shall not repeat the details of study content, but I would remind you of its comprehensiveness by <br />simply stating that every subject conceivably related to water and land management is included. <br /> <br />Also addressed in the studies are contemporary and future problems. Let me pause here to say <br />that those of us at this conference can pretty well identify many problems relating to the Coloradc <br />River Basin, even without benefit of the work done or to be done by the Interagency Committee. <br /> <br />Mr. Myron Holburt, Chief Engineer for the Colorado River Board of California, very plainly <br />enunciated some of these problems in his address last week before the annual conference of the Irriga- <br />tion Districts Association of California, and urged that immediate attention be given to them. They <br />include among others the establishment and maintenance of salinity and pollution standards on the <br />river, our responsiveness to the terms of the Mexican Water Treaty, competition for Federal funds, and <br />the overshadowing questions of water reclamation and water augmentation. Believe me, here is an <br />excellent opportunity for those of us directly concerned with the great, red river to exercise our <br />20/20 vision and assist in the solution of these problems. As stated in this very meeting last year by <br />Brigadier General John A. B. Dillard, then South Pacific Division Engineer for the Corps of Engineers, <br />the failure to find solutions to local problems right here on the spot might well mean that the deci- <br />sion-making will not take place in the West. I do not think this would be to the liking nor necessarily <br />in the best interests of Colorado River Water Users. <br /> <br />I. <br /> <br />I mentioned that the framework studies would reach out as far as the year 2020 in their pro- <br />jections. It is doubtful that most of us will live until then, but we shall probably see the year 2000. It <br />is not easy to visualize the state of the world at either point in time, but work done to date by the <br />comprehensive framework study groups indicates that by 2000 our national water needs will amount <br />to nearly a trillion gallons a day, with about One and one-half trillion gallons required daily for the <br />year 2020. Precipitation over the United States provides more than 4 trillion gallons a day, but most <br />of it is lost through transpiration and evaporation, so that we only have available a useable average <br />daily supply of slightly less than one and one-quarter trillion gallons. <br /> <br />Considering these same statistics as they relate to the Colorado River, the Upper Basin popula- <br />tion is expected to increase from today's one-third million to over one million by 2020, requiring ap- <br />proximately double the amount of water - - from six million gallons as a daily requirement now to <br />nearly ten million daily in 2020. <br /> <br />In the Lower Basin the population has been growing at one of the highest rates in the country, <br />probably due to the attraction of a milder climate. The projected growth is that the population will in- <br />crease from today's one and one-half million to over seven million by 2020. In the same period daily <br />water requirements will rise from ten million gallons to more than fourteen million. <br /> <br />In view of existing water shortages the problem becomes acute as the area expands in popula- <br />tion and industry. Hence the need for the framework studies, not only to suggest an appropriate divi- <br />sion of available water resources among the competing demands for various usage, but to determine <br />how best to improve water management and to increase its supply. The possibilities are well known <br />even now: waste water reclamation, watershed management, surface reservoirs, underground storage, <br />weather modification, desalination and interbasin transfers. But the mix of these solutions and their <br />legal, engineering, fiscal and environmental ramifications are yet to be solved. <br /> <br />Imagination and moral courage will be paramount virtues for both today's and tomorrow's <br />planners, which brings to mind the anonymous quotation, "The mistakes in planning are found in the <br />overcautious concepts - not the bold". <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />-9- <br />
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.