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;-rojects and pUoposed new projects. :-wrute" the mted States Depart- :nent of Interior's announced Pacific Southwest Water Plan attempts to :nake up for part of the loss of '.Iater to Southern California by :ransfer of water from Northern California, it does not authorize ~onstruction of needed facilities. It only provides for a feasibility study of various projects. As an alternate plan, the Depart- ment of Water and Power proposes the $1.4 billion Snake-Colorado project for consideration by the U. S. Department of Interior as a f~deral project. This project takes the practical view that the way to protect the investments in existing water projects and to asSUre suf- :icient water in the lower Colorado ~iver for present and projected luture needs of California, Arizona lnd Nevada, is to increase the 'upply of the lower Colorado River itselfj rather than attempt to allo- cate the anticipated shortages. The Plan 1Jte plan consists of Unoortin!!: ~.400,000 acre-feet per vear of sur- ~us water from the Sn~k~ Rivpr in ~ho to the lower Coloracin R iv~r Via a new 519-miIe a ueduct to LaKe ea. This aqueduct would cross eastern Nevada; providing a 'upplemental supply for that water- deficient state. From Lake Mead the supplemental water would flow down the Colorado River to Lake - - -~'_._~"~-----.---~-,.~" Havasu and there become avail- able for use by Arizona and Cali... fornia. The Snake - Colorado project would enable the MWD's Colorado River Aqueduct to continue at full- capacity operation despite water losses to California resulting from the Supreme Court decision. It would also as~ure ample water for the proposed Central Arizona Proj- ect and sufficient water for the planned water developments in Nevada. As. one ~ight expect, a project of thIS magmtude also concerns in- terested parties in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. They are par- ticularly concerned about the effect the proposed diversion of Snake Ri~er water might have upon that regIon. -Recent .studies by federal agen- cies show that there is ample water in the Snake River to meet the needs of the proposed project and still satisfy all local and downstream requirements. The joint report pre- pared in 1961 by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U. S. Corps of Engineers entitled, "Upper Snake River Basin," concludes that, even with the development of $1.5 bil- lion worth of new irrigation projects within the upper Snake River Basin, there will still exist a surplus of 3,600,000 acre-feet per year at the diversion point of the proposed Snake-Colorado project. The Snake River today empties over 30,000,000 acre-feet per year into the Columbia River which in turn wastes over 170,000,000 acre- feet per year into the Pacific Ocean; The Bureau of Reclamation esti- mates that, even with the ultimate development of the Columbia River Basin, a flow of 120,000,000 acre- feet per year will continue to waste into the Pacific. Thus, the Snake- Colorado project will not adversely: affect the Idaho and Pacific North- west region. Planners speak of the super-city of tomorrow but Los Angeles has a1re.icly_~oIlleasuper-city in area.l. with 458 square miles within its corporate limits. Since the turn of the century the city's population increased from 100,000 to 2,690,- 000 persons. The water leaders of the early 1900's planned' well. The early water sources consisting of the Los Angeles River and other limited local Sources provided water for growth. Even today the Los An- geles River's underground basin plus other local underground sup- plies meet about 23 % of the city's water requirements - which is suf- ficient to serve some 600,000 people. Other Sources include the Los Angeles Owens River Aqueduct and the Colorado River Aqueduct, and these supplies provide sufficient wate~to lTlaintain the present popu- lation. But we .need moreH water to keep up with growth. -I a- To obtain surplus water from the large riverS in. Northern California, Los Angeles and the rest of Sou~h- ern California joined forces WIth other areas of the state on the Cali- fornia State Water Project, popu- larly known as the Fe~ther River project. The Metropohtan Wat~r District, of which Los Angeles IS the largest member, has contracted for 2,000,000 acre-feet per year of water to be delivered by the new aqueduct. The Department of Water ~nd Power has also started constructIon of a second Los Angeles Owens River Aqueduct, to use its own water resources to the fullest extent possible. This second aqueduct will provide water for_ another 750,000 persons, representing the antici- pated growth over a period of about 15 years. However, the two new aqueducts will be an aid but won't eliminate the city's need to receive large quantities of water from existing sources. Southern California can. not afford to lose the. water it is depending upon from the Colorado River Aqueduct and with the Snake-Colorado project we need not lose it. The Pacific Northwest and Southwest are economically inter- dependent. The time will come when the West, traditional battle- ground over water rights, win get together in a broad plan to use the vast amounts of water available under a sound program to the bene- fit of all. ....~ THE . AMERICAN CITY, 80 :96-9c March, 1965. (photographs omitted)