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nrl')-'!'::;- Jv.(...... tv 38/Friedkin should be sought, and emphasized the importance of prompt aetion. It was obvious from the task force's studies that a negoti- ated permanent solution to the problem would require a significant reduction in the salinity of the treaty waters deliv- ered to Mexico. and that it could not be achieved without significant costs in water or money, or both. When Mr. Brownell met with the Committee of Fourteen, they were em- phatic at the outset in their position that any concession to Mexico would be largely on the basis of intemational comity, and that they should not bear the burden of a new agreement in water or dollars. Mr. Brownell agreed. This condition ruled out wasting the Wellton-Mohawk drainage waters to the Gulf of California and replacing the waters with stored waters. be- cause the stored waters of the Colorado River are allocated to uses in the basin states. Another proposal, that the federal govemment purchase the interests of farmers in the Wellton- Mohawk District and close it down, similarly met sharp polit- ical resistance. It became clear that the only means of signifi. cantly reducing salinity that would enable an agreement with the Mexican govemment and meet the conditions of the basin states was to desalt the Wellton-Mohawk drainage waters for delivery to Mexico, as proposed by the Department of the Inte- rior. Mr. Brownell submitted his recommendations to Presi- dent Nixon on December 29. 1972. President Nixon approved the recommendations. sent Secretary of State William Rogers to give President Echeverria a proposal based on the recom- mendations. and gave Mr. Brownell the rank of Ambassador for the purpose of negotiating and concluding an agreement with Mexico's Foreign Secretary Rabasa. Although Secretary Rabasa continued to press for deliver- ies of the same quality of water received by United States farmers at Imperial Dam. the final understanding allowed some differential in quality. It did, however, provide for elim- ination of the adverse consequences of the Wellton-Mohawk drainage waters that precipitated the problem without specify- ing how the goal would be met. Minute No. 242 Presidents Nixon and Echeverria approved the recom- mended agreement on August 30. 1973, in Mexico City in the form of Minute No. 242 of the International Boundary and Wa- ter Commission.7 By simultall.eous exchange of diplomatic notes. the two govemments for:Qially expressed their approval.