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70 Frank C. Merriell, Secretary -Engineer 0 f the Colorado River Water (;onservation Di stric t Board and a member of the Upper Colorado River Basin Comp"ct engineering subcolluni ttee, stated that there had been assigned to him one phase of the study, namely,: the derivation of the presently irrigated l!lIlds in western Colorado. He found, he said, that Colorado irrigates 800,000 acres of land in western Colorado, but that not over 200,000 of that acreaga can be said to have an adequate water supply. He warned against the making of a Compact in the Upper Basin wi thout adequate information. I The Director, who is Colorado's memb3r of the Upper Colorado River CCJllpact COlI'mission, gave a report on the progress of the Compact nego- tiations. He referred to the fact that some of the States, particularly Wyoming and Utah, had urged an early consurnrretion of the Conpact nego- tiations wi toou t givi ng a fu 11 consideration, in hi s opinion, to the vital necessity of acquiring adequate data and infor""'tion upon which to base the terms of a CCJll!,!!ct. In this connection, he observed that Governor Hunt of Wyoming had called a meeting of the Governors of the Compact States in the Upper Basin and their Compact Commissioners and advisors to convene in Chey- enne, Wyoming, on September 8, 1947. Apparently the purpose of Governor Hunt's call was to expedite, if possible, the making of a Compact. The Director commented that, although Colorado had been accused, by some other States, of causing a delay in the making of the Compact, it was Colorado's policy, in the in terests of proj ect development in the State, that we make a Compact at as early a date as possible consistent with the availability of engineering information end data upon which the Commission can safely proceed. The Director then ca,lled attention to fue fact that pending the making of a Compact, the Board should take all necessary steps to obtain the author ization of relatively small projects in Colorado, upon which reports have been made by the Bureau of Reclamation and the ..rater supply of which will assuredly corne within the State's share of Upper Basin water. In this connection, he mentioned the fact that the Paonia Project had been authorized during too first session of the 80th Congress am that such projects as the Collbran, La Plata, Silt, Pine Ri ver ~xtens ion and similar small proj ec ts providi ng for too utili zation and storage of e comparatively small amount of water, should be pushed to final authorization for construction if the reports thereon show an economically feasible project, even if the Upper Colorado River basin Compact has not been consummated. Such a policy, however, must not be construed to mean that. a Compact on the Upper Colorado River should not be made at as early a date as possible, because large projects whic hare requi red to uti Ii ze wha t Colorado beli eves to be its share 0 f Upper Ba si n water are necessarily d 31ayed unt i1 a fine 1 adjustment among the States has been reached through the proposed ~ornpa ct. I