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MYRON B. HOLBURT 4. SALINITY OF WATER DELIVERED TO MEXICO Salinity standards established for United States users will have a bearing on the salinity of the Colorado River water delivered to Mexico. Tllfough the beneficial use of the Colorado's flow on up- lands, the salts in the river at the Mexican border are considerably concentrated. Just above the entry of the river into Mexico, a source of heavily saline drainage water from the Wellton-Mohawk Project in Arizona is added to the already saline river. In 1965, under an agreement with Mexico, the United States constructed a channel which can bypass the saline water from the project around the Mexican diversion dam. A final solution must be developed within the next 18 months. 5. FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR AUTHORIZED PROJECTS Basin legislators and water leaders have been very concerned with the slowdown that has occ- urred in obtaining appropriations for authorized projects. The total backlog of authorized but unfund- ed reclamation projects is over $5 billion. Further, at the rate of funding experienced for the past several years, it would take more than twenty years to complete construction of those presently auth- orized projects, States with authorized projects will naturally tend to concentrate their efforts on obtaining sufficient construction funds for their projeCts. It is hoped that the competition for funds will not impair the necessary effort required to solve problems which effect the entire basin. 6. OTHER PROBLEMS Other problems include (a) the conflict between wildlife conservationists and water users em- bodied in programs to control phreatophytes, manage the river, and develop the watersheds; (b) the unresolved issues remaining in Arizona v. California; and (c) the inherent problems resulting from P, L. 90-537's direction that the Secretary of the Interior must follow the Law of the River and that any affected state may bring suit if it is considered that the Secretary has failed to comply with appli- cable law. This list of unresolved items is not complete, but it does illustrate that there are as yet many significant items that must be resolved either through give-and-take negotiations or through extended and expensive litigation. It is hoped that the course of future efforts will be concentrated in the negot- iations field with a continuation of the spirit of cooperation among the seven states that has developed during the past three years. THE KEY TO THE PROBLEMS It The key to resolving most of the problems that I have mentioned, and of course, the"larger problem which"1 have not discussed - - that of insufficient water - - is augmentation of the river. With an increased water supply: the Mexican Treaty burden problem is answered, the operating problems of" the major dams become minimal, the salinity values will drop, both for the Lower Basin and Mexico, and the unresolved problems between water users and conservationists become much more susceptible of resolution. In short, we will all have something to negotiate with and for. This, with the reasonable assurance of a supply of water sufficient to meet ligitimate demands entering the river at a specific future date, it would be possiblt to negotiate interim agreements on the many issues facing the river basin states. Studies by the Colorado River Board of California show conclusively that such an augmenta- tion of the Colorado River water supply is needed - - and at the earliest practicable date. This conclu- sion should not come as news to knowledgeable Westerners, or even to Congress, as is evident in the congressional reports on the Colorado River Basin Project Act. Our studies indicate a water augmentation need of approximately three and one half million acre-feet per year just to meet the Mexican Water Treaty obligation, to assure Lower Basin basic ap- portionments, and to operate the existing Metropolitan Water District project and the future Central Arizona Project at full capacity. In addition, preliminary analyses show a potential demand for a great deal more water. Other investigators of Colorado River water demands and supplies have likewise in- cluded that the river needs to be augmented, with varying dates for initial shortages. In a series of con- gressional hearings on the Colorado River Project, the concerned states and the federal government -41-