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. . w g) w ~ Act; and The Clean Air Act. State water quality laws, although general- ly follwing EPA guidelines, may impose more stringent standards on any stream in the state theregy affecting a reuse project, The administra- tion of any regulations deriving from these laws will determine whether the impact on a reuse project is positive or negative. Institutional Framework The broad institutional framework under which any water reuse project must operate includes the needs of the nation, of the region, of special interests such as the environment, of each state in the Colorado River Basin, and of regulatory bodies concerned w.ith specific reuse ap- plications. Each of these categories is, in turn, responsive to the in- dividuals who make them up and to the individuals who specifically ad- minister the statutes designed to manage water use. National needs. The Colorado River Basin is of growing impor~ tance to the nation as energy development begins to speed up in the Up- per Basin and agricultural production continues in the Lower Basin. Al- ready a source of irrigation water to the valuable Imperial Valley--a national provendor--the Colorado River will soon be providing water to develop a significant percentage of the nation's energy resources, In addition, the River is an international stream and must also be consid- ered in that role as an element of maintaining good relations with the Mexican nation. This rather grandiose statement of national needs re- flects the reality that the Colorado River Basin is an important compo- nent of the nation's food supply, will be a major energy contributor, and is also supplying water to areas of rapid population growth. These needs affect the federal institutional response to proposals concerning the Colorado River. At the same time federal policy can also be in- fluenced by the demands of nationally organized environmental groups which can inhibit certain actions. Regional needs. These needs reflect the national needs with the addition of an on-site immediacy in dealing with the problems of salin- ity, energy development, and population growth all under the governance of the Colorado River Compact and the various allocation agreements sub- ject to it.4 The seven Colorado River Basin states joined together in supporting the Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956 and subsequent participating projects to obtain basin-wide development of the waters of the River, With the addition, of the federally legislated imperative to 4The Upper Colorado River Basin Compact and Arizona v, Califor- nia(1963) , II-4