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<br />.pricing of irrigation water with the eventual goal being less wastage of <br />irrigation water. The President also directed the Water Resources Council <br />to establish a water conservation technical assistance grants program of <br />$25 million annually. These funds would go directly to the States for <br />purposes of assisting them in water conservation. Other directives concerned <br />the Departments of Interior, HUD and Agriculture, for water conservation <br />efforts in water short areas as well as water conservation in agricultural <br />assistance programs in water short areas. EPA has been directed to essentially <br />attach water conservation conditions to their loan and grants programs. <br />I could go on and give a few more examples here but the point is that a <br />major portion of the President's water policy reform has centered on ways to <br />reduce demand for future water development. In the past, major emphasis on <br />Federal water programs has been on increasing supply. In contrast, President <br />Carter has indicated the need for new emphasis on reducing demand. <br />Several other areas of reform directed by the President in his July 12 <br />set of directives include increasing an existing State planning grants <br />program at the Water Resources Council from approximately $5 million to $25 <br />million annually. The purpose of this program is to improve State water <br />resources planning. Again, we can always be critical of planning, but if <br />the planning process is not adequate, the type of procedures that you are <br />concerned about developing here today may not be integrated into decision- <br />making process for purposes of water resources development and management. <br />The President also directed more strict enforcement of existing laws such <br />as the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act. As many of you know here, <br />enforcement of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act has been somewaht <br />lax in the past. It has not been applied uniformly to water resources <br />development. <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />$ <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />14 <br />