BOARD01106

• Board Meeting Date: 2/3/1962
• Description: Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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I

tried to sell this deal and admitted
later when challenged that they had no
data. Sure we are losing water by
evaporation, so do you from the reservoir
but outside of pouring oil on top of the
reservoir to conserve the water, I know
of no way to reduce that evaporation in
a rarefied atmosphere.

We have got a deficit, certainly,
someone suggested -- you. You did. This
compact was made based on a series of
dry years starting about 1924 and running
up to -- well -- no. It went back further
than that. Bill....where is he? I saw
him -- Bill McCollough -- they started
way back and started in trying this with
Wagner and Tremont Diversion. In 1924
they spotted a million acre reservoir
at Wagon Wheel Gap Dam Reservoir. It was
dry in '32 and this valley was going to
be the -- the Rio Grande drainage was
going to be charged with a $40,000,000
debt and it's been dry ever since by thB
figures. There hasn't been a year that
you could have gotten a drop of water out
of it. Commissioner Skotsky and I went
down there and he says, "When are you going
to fill it?" "I don't think we are going
to fill it." "You can't blame us for
trying, can you?" Well, of course, I
couldn't. (Laughter)

I

The Closed Basin drain is all we are
going to talk about. You got this Wes
Harper who Texas hired and he is a sharp
boy. I knew him long, lorgago. He gets
the question of salinity in it and I
suppose they really consider that salinity
business -- whenever we have got an under-
ground reservoir here with less evaporation
for the amount of soil drain, you couldn't
possibly get anyplace in the world because
your crop transpiration certainly is there
and the evaporation is in these sloughs
but if you want to keep, if you want to
keep this water, you have sure got to keep
the water up here where it will keep it
full of water.

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