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<br />OO[)1<:j8 <br /> <br />-3- <br /> <br />Then oomes a provision that dams and other works oonstruoted under the di- <br />reotion of the Secretary of "far whioh the Secretary of the Interior determines <br />may be utilized for irrigation nay be so utilized only with the oonourrenoe of <br />the Seoretary of war. <br /> <br />It is also provided that other works may be oonstruoted for irrigation uses <br />under the Reolams:ti en laws. Suoh oomfort as this last clause might offer to <br />the farmers on the upper river in Colorado and Kansas is quickly nullified. hqw- <br />ever, by the terms of Paragraph (b) of Section 3 of the proposed bill. It says <br />that projects authorized 'and oonstructed under the Aot shall be operated so as <br />to insure oontemplated navigation and flood control benefits. It says that they <br />shall be operated so as to provide fcr the generation of hydroelectrio power. <br />and the delivery of water for reclamation and irrigation purposes to the maximum <br />extent consistent with the aohievement of ~vigation and fl ood oontrol benefits. <br /> <br />While this olause seems to ooncern only projeots oonstruoted under the Aot <br />it will readily be seen that the operation of such dams' oonoeivably may be ac- <br />complished only when the entire river flow is available theref~. <br /> <br />In a recent deoisi on' of the Un1 ted States Supreme Court involving the New <br />River in Virginia and West Virginia the Commeroe Clause was so broadly inter- <br />preted as to include every brook and tributary !'lowing into a navigable stream. <br />This brought all water within the jurisdiction of Congress under the terms of <br />the Constitution, if'Congress exercises its powers. <br /> <br />Thus although the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the oontrol of inter- <br />state waters by the states, the terms of the Commerce Clause when exeroised <br />would probably plaoe the power in the hands of: the Army under the provision~ of <br />this Aot. <br /> <br />Late in Ootober the National Reolamation Assooiation. made up of representa- <br />tives of the seventeen semi-arid states where i~rigation is praotioed and where <br />'!I8.ter is life, announoed a polioy with respect to the use of water whioh all <br />~eoples, all Federal Statutes and agenoies should respect and observe. <br /> <br />.A report by a speoial o amnittee , after sutdy and oonferences with author- <br />ities from all the states, was adopted unanimously. Among the statements was <br />the following. <br /> <br />That the oontrol, regulation and utilization of: water in the <br />arid and semi-arid areas of the United States be in acoord with <br />the prinoiple that the highest use shall be for danestio oonsumption <br />and for growing orops; that multiple use or power projeots shall <br />be so designed and operated. that domestio and irrigation needs <br />shall at all times be paramount to the requirements of hydroeleotrio <br />energy produotion; and that the imposition of federal jurisdiction <br />under the Commeroe Clause to rnaintl1-in navigable oapaoity and regulate <br />floods in lower reaohes of rivers having their sources in the arid <br />and semi-e.rid region. should recognize the maximum use of water for <br />irrigation purposes. <br /> <br />This statement was not the result of a sudden impulse on the part of any <br />