|
<br />u.s. News iWorldReport
<br />
<br />Septeaber 19 t 1966
<br />
<br />30 MILLION AMERICANS
<br />
<br />FIGHT'ING OVER A RIVER
<br />
<br />There's no gunplay, but there
<br />
<br />is ci modern-day water war and,
<br />
<br />it's once again dividing the
<br />
<br />American West.
<br />
<br />The Southwest, looking for
<br />
<br />water . to keep its desert boom
<br />
<br />alive, wants to tap the North-
<br />
<br />west's Columbia River. But the
<br />
<br />Northwest, launching ci boom
<br />
<br />of its own, says nothing doing.
<br />
<br />Outcome seems certain to af-
<br />
<br />feet water policy for all the U. S.
<br />
<br />PORTLAND, Oreg.
<br />Across the American West, battle
<br />lines are forming for a water war that:
<br />may well turn out to be the most bitter
<br />this part of the country has ever seen.
<br />At stake are waters of the Columbia
<br />River, which caITies a volume second
<br />only to the flow of the Mississippi River
<br />in the United States.
<br />Final outcome of this developing war,
<br />now involving some 30 million people,
<br />seems certain to affect water oli
<br />t . n
<br />Lined up on one si e are the North-
<br />west States of Oregon, Washington, Ida-
<br />ho and Montana. In these four States
<br />lies most of the basin from which the
<br />waters of the Columbia dr~.
<br />On the other ~ide are t sev~n Srntp~
<br />of the Colorado River Basin, most of
<br />them in the Southwest: California, Ari-
<br />zona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colo-
<br />rado, and Wyoming.
<br />Shortage in Southwest. The South-
<br />west's "water hole," the Colorado River,
<br />is falling far short of meeting needs for
<br />the region's growth. Solution, in the
<br />view of Southwest leaders, is to divert
<br />a portion of the Columbia Basin's water
<br />riches into the Southwest.
<br />If the Southwest wins the fight to di-
<br />vert water from the Northwest, then
<br />more big water-diversion projects are
<br />likely to be seen across America. If the
<br />Northwest holds on to its water, then it's
<br />likely that people and industry in the
<br />U. S. are going to have to go where the
<br />water is.
<br />A bill now before Congress would pro-
<br />vide the warks necessary to squeeze the
<br />last drops of water from the Colorado
<br />River for use in the Southwest.
<br />
<br />
<br />, _ ..,,~C:";-"';"""'>"isu...
<br />..,;:-;~.~-_.- .-- ~
<br />-~Z:%- --,-
<br />
<br />.. '",.-.
<br />- \'~""
<br />
<br />
<br />.._~~~~~tr~F;-
<br />
<br />-""~::::;;'S.fii;.::::I.:w'/~.,:.i:%;.Ii',," ,-
<br />
<br />
<br />....._-...
<br />;~ . ,':,...
<br />
<br />'.
<br />
<br />this year. Most other Congressmen from I
<br />Southwestern .States agreed.
<br />But the battle to win eventual im-
<br />portation of water into the Colorado
<br />Basin remains very much alive.
<br />"Importation is vital to the entire
<br />Southwest," says a California spokesman.
<br />"If the bill doesn't pass this year, we
<br />will start where we left off when Con-
<br />gress comes back in January."
<br />Says Senator Henry M. Jackson
<br />
<br />-- -.''- .,;;:......--:,
<br />
<br />~~~~-:~.:~._L_.(:.~
<br />.j
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />
<br />I
<br />
<br />I
<br />i
<br />; I
<br />, I
<br />
<br />\
<br />
<br />~~.,-
<br />
<br />~
<br />
<br />..f'~g~-..~
<br />Photo: U. S. Army E11lllne~n
<br />
<br />COLUMBIA RIVER, here flowing past Bonneville Dam, is seen by Southwest.
<br />ern States as the source of water needed to keep their region growing.
<br />
<br />Sponsors of the bill say the dams
<br />would not damage the Grand Canyon
<br />and are needed to generate power that
<br />would be sold to help finance the Cen-
<br />tral Arizona Project. This project would
<br />bring water from the Colorado River into
<br />the Phoenix and Tucson areas of Arizona.
<br />Northwest opposes bill. What has
<br />r~i:ed ~ackles in the ~orth\~e:; i~.~ n~~
<br />VIStOn In thp l.oloT:lno Ra' 1 1
<br />study of nossible !o\ourcp~ of np\v W:ltpr
<br />for the Southwest. It is no secret that the
<br />source most Southwesterners have in
<br />mind is thp rnl11mhi!l R;vpr.
<br />FiT~t vir-toTV in the fight for the
<br />Columbia's water appears to have gone.
<br />tn thp Nm-thwp<;t. On September 7, two
<br />House members from Arizona issued a
<br />statement saying that the Colorado Rivt:r
<br />bill probably would not pass Congress
<br />
<br />... -
<br />
<br />(Dem.) of Washington: "1 think this wa.\
<br />. just one battle in a long war."
<br />At the heart of this scramble for water
<br />is the great disparity in supply between
<br />the Columbia and Colorado basins.
<br />'Vashington's Governor Dan Evans has
<br />boasted: "If water were gold, Washin!!'
<br />ton State would be Fort Knox."
<br />Haves and have-nots. Over all, tht'
<br />Columbia Basin has 3 per cent of thl'
<br />U. S. population and 12 per cent of till'
<br />countrv's water runoff. In contrast, tb.
<br />seven States of the Colorado Basin han'
<br />13 per cent of the U. S. population, bill
<br />only 1 per cent of the total water runoff
<br />Average annual flow in the Cohlll1bi.l
<br />is around 160 million acre-feet. That I'
<br />more than 10 times the average annll.t'
<br />flow of the Colorado. An acre-foot 0: '
<br />
|