BOARD02257

• Board Meeting Date: 3/13/1963
• Description: Table of Contents, Agenda and Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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basins of the state to determine the virgin
water supply, the present uses, the future
potential uses and provides for a moratorium
on initiation of water rights through the
adjudication procedures and making an appro-
priation to the Water Conservation Board of
$40,000.

Personally, I am at a little bit of a
loss as to the first part of this, whether it's
a confirmation by legislation of work which the
Water Board has already undertaken and which
has been in the process for the last three
years; namely, the investigations that are in
process on the various basins of the Colorado
River on the western slope. Now this was
directed to be done by the Board by resolution
in 1959 and we have been proceeding on this in-
vestigation ever since. So far as staff thinking
is concerned, the staff has felt that the first
report that has come out of this has proved val-
uable enough that we would like to continue to
cover all of the river basins. The Water Board's
resolution does not cover all of the basins of
the state, it only covers those on the western
slope. This is being done under the provisions
of Public Law 566 where we have the advice and
personnel from Soil Conservation Service Field
Parties who are experts both in economics and
hydrology; soil people, agricultural economists
and the whole ball of wax in this field party;
this provides us with a staff which is worth,
oh, in the range of $70,000 a year as far as
the state is concerned. We are assisting them
with one of our staff members, Mr. Morrill, on
the west slope and by contract with Mr. Jex on
the west slope.

I

This bill provides that this be accelerated
and the entire state be covered in a period of
two years. On this I can only express a per-
sonal opinion. I do not think, first, that it
would be possible to assemble a staff to do this
whole job in two years. It would take a tre-
mendous staff to cover all of the river basins
and I question whether $40,000 would do it. We