BOARD02551

• Board Meeting Date: 8/11/1965
• Description: Minutes and Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

I

in the Lower Basin, and one reason only.
That is the possibility that the construction
and operation of such projects could be used
as a lever in the united states Congress to
deny us future federal authorizations. Other
than that we have no concern. It's none of
our business what the Lower Basin does with
the water that arrives there. It is our
concern and that is what we are trying to
get at here. is to some way prevent the Lower
Basin from saying 'We are using the water
that you are trying to take back', and trying
to persuade Congress, not from a legal view-
point or from the viewpoint of the compact,
but purely by the exercise of political
muscle. to keep us from getting future auth-
orizations in the Congress. This doesn't
prevent any private development or other
development which we can accomplish ourselves.
The fact that the Lower Basin may build a
hundred projects has nothing to do with any
private development which may occur here in
the Upper Basin.

I think there is only one thing that we
are concerned with - will the Central Arizona
make it impossible, or more difficult, for
us to secure future authorizations under the
colorado River storage Project Act? That's
all we are concerned with. Otherwise it is
none of our business what the federal govern-
ment does in the Lower Basin.

I

The other side of the coin is this. We
are both competing in the Congress, both the
upper and Lower Basins. for federal money.
This is all that's involved in anything we
are talking about. If we cannot solve the
issue of the Central Arizona project, then
it is my considered opinion that we should for-
get about other projects in Colorado for some
period of time. vle shouldn't think that we
can be unreasonable about the Central Arizona
project and at the same time get our projects
authorized. To be realistic about it we
could arrive at a stalemate for some period