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<br />13;:G
<br />Possibilities of economical conversion of sea water to
<br />fresh, reclamatiun and fe-use of waste water, and
<br />wcrtther modification to increase precipitation, must be
<br />included, alrhough it is unlikely that any or all of these
<br />can pro\.ide the total answer.
<br />"Vith rhe passage of P.L 90-;37, rhe United Stares
<br />became cOI1lmitted to the eventual augmentation of
<br />the Colorado River. The bill defines the water deliv-
<br />eries to Mexico as a national obligation upon the river's
<br />augmentation by at least 25 miIJion acre-feet per year,
<br />and assigns the Secretary of the Interior to study the
<br />water needs and supplies of the "Vest and to develop
<br />a plan to mect the needs, As previously stated, the bill
<br />has a deficienc~. in that studies of importing Columbia
<br />River Basin water into the Color3do River Basin 'were
<br />pro hi hired for a 10-year period,
<br />These studies, in conjunction with the Federal-Srate
<br />Studies currently underway and scheduled to be com-
<br />plered in July 1971, will provide the basis for a long-
<br />range program that will lead to rhe eventual augmen-
<br />tation of the Colorado, Knowing thar this is the
<br />common goal of all Basin states, each can then move
<br />towards incre;lsing the interstate cooperation that has
<br />marked recent years on the Colorado, as there are as
<br />.vet many unresolved issues facing the states.
<br />
<br />The search for additional water must cover broad
<br />horizons, both conceptually and geographically, It
<br />must envision the possibility of huge man-made rivers
<br />carrying water over long distances from water-rich
<br />areas [0 \\'~ltcr-poor areas like the Colorado River
<br />Basin and the Southwest. Not years bur decades are
<br />required to plan such endeavors, to aHav parochial
<br />fears and reach agreement, secure ::)Utho~ization, ar-
<br />range financing, and to design :lnd construCt facilities.
<br />The concept involves the entire Westj it transcends
<br />political boundaries, Indeed it is now generally recog-
<br />nized that coordinated water planning among all the
<br />western states is essential to the sound economic
<br />gro\\'th of the :lIea 3S a whole.
<br />Accordingl~' the go\'ernors. of eleven \I.,'esrern states.
<br />including California in 1965 directed the organization
<br />of the \Vcsrern States \Varer Council, comprising rep-
<br />resentatives of the seven Colorado River Basin states
<br />and the four Pacific Northwest states, to foster the
<br />solution of water problems on a west-wide basis.
<br />No one can be so n:live as to think that the regional
<br />approach to water resource development will end :lIl
<br />intersectional problems, but there is increasing aware-
<br />ness that <1 cooperative regional approach will be a vast
<br />improvement O\'cr the piecemeal sectional approach
<br />of the past.
<br />
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<br />19
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