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<br />Now, it says, "Director's report." And, Larry, I presume that is you. <br />Are you the director or not? <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />MR. SPARKS: Until May 31st. <br /> <br />Mr. Chairman and members of the board, I want to briefly comment upon I <br />the presentation made here this morning concerning the salinity <br />control project., Over the years, I have been extremely critical about <br />the lack of adequate research and development.in the field of.irriga- <br />tion. I felt that our institutions, both federal and state, had been <br />rather backward in developing more. efficient irrigation practices. <br />The future of this state, because of the increasing competition for <br />water, lies in simply getting by with less water. We have been con- <br />vinced, on our staff for a number of years that we could reduce the <br />amount of agricultural water by at least 25 percent--and that is a <br />significant aniounteof-water",=a.ndr::.still~maintai!l aevery.~he~l:thy:::'agri" . <br />cultur?:!- economy.,iifl:,we~:use cthe watereinfa::more~effici~nt fashion. <br /> <br />This salinity control project gave us the springboard to put into play <br />a lot of ideas that we have had concerning irrigation efficiency. One <br />of the most important parts of this salinity control project is that <br />the~project is leading to more efficient irrigation practices, which <br />in turn means the application of less water and,- therefore,the.con~ <br />servation of water. <br /> <br />The farmers in this area have been generally enthusiastic, because <br />they realize better than anyone else that they have to compete eco~ <br />nomical1y in today's market. Cheap, farm. labor isa thing of the past. <br />The Minimum Wage Law and other restrictions, such as housing and <br />sanitation. and what, have you, are now making farm labor. extremely <br />expensive., So this means that the farmer has to get by with less hand <br />labor and more efficient irrigation practices, such as.automation, <br />sprinkler systems, drip systems, making it possible for the farmer to <br />operate with less labor. It also makes more efficient use of fertil- <br />izer. Fertilizer costs having gone up tremendously, since this is <br />basically an oil based product. The, conventional irrigation process <br />wastes a large part of the fertilizer, simply washes it back to the <br />river. <br /> <br />So the savings: of the fertilizer and labor ,- and - in the case of drip. I <br />irrigation, weed control, those are all important factors in improving <br />the economics of the farm system. There is a tremendous bonus to <br />this salinity control project. And for that reason, while I have <br />never been enthusiastic about: salinity control, per se, the important <br />side effects, in my opinion, were of sufficient:magnitude to warrant <br />the state getting into salinity control, such as herein the Grand <br />Valley, on a full scale basis. <br /> <br />-26- <br />