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<br />000865 <br /> <br />1963 <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />water rights controversy and that it <br />would be drafted so it would not ad- <br />versely affect any existing agencJes oper- <br />ating In the water resources field. <br />Section 3 or 8. 1111 Is a. statement snd <br />a proposed enactment or these basic <br />understandings and purposes. It needs <br />to be J"ead carefuJly and understood, lor <br />it, puts aside many of the controversial <br />side Issues which have In the past unnee.. <br />essarlly delayed the water. planning job. <br />Section 3 reads as follows: <br />SEC. 3. Nothing In thlB Act !IhaIl be con- <br />BlrUed-(I!,) to expand or diminIsh either <br />Federnl or State Jurlsdlctlon, responslbU1ty, <br />or rights In tho tleld o( water resources <br />planning, development, or control; nor to <br />d18pJoce, Bupersede, or limit the Jurl.lldlctlon <br />or responsibility of any Jf!gally cfltnbllshed <br />Joint or common lIgcncy or two or more <br />Statcs. or of two or more Sta.tes and the Fed~ <br />eral Government.; nor to Ilmlt t.he authority <br />of Congress to authorize and fund proJects; <br />nor to limit the use of other mechanleDUl, <br />If preferred by the participating govern~ <br />mental unlts. 1n the water resources field: <br />(b) as superseding, modifying, or repeat- <br />Jng existing lawa applicable to the varloUl <br />(Federal agencies which are authorlzed to <br />develOp or participate in the development of <br />water and related land resources, or to exer- <br />cise licensing or regulatory functions In <br />relatlon thereto; nor to affect the Jurisdic- <br />tion, pOwers, or prerogatlvea of the Intern a- <br />ttonaI Joint Comrnlsalon, United States and <br />Canada, or of tb., International Boundary <br />and Water Commission, United States and <br />Mexico. <br /> <br />1- <br />( <br /> <br />During one of the hearings on this <br />bUl, I made the statement t.hat the long- <br />standIng water rights controversy be.. <br />tween the Federal Government and the <br />States had never prevented the construc- <br />tion of 8 project. I chn.llenged one wit.. <br />. ness to name any project which had <br />been forestalled by the rights Issue. He <br />.named two, but it proved that he was <br />mistaken on both of them. <br />It Was. and is, my belief that if we <br />w1l1 set the water engineers and experts <br />from the Federal Government and the <br />States down around a table to come up <br />with the very best possible plan for the <br />use of the water of a river basin, they <br />will get the Job done without any exten- <br />61ve debate on rights. They deal In facts. <br />The costs and benefits of alternative <br />. projects and program are measurable. <br />They will study those alternatives, com- <br />pare them, and select the alternatives <br />which are best for the basin Involved. <br />Time after time, the engineers have <br />been able to recommend projects'whlch <br />all of the participants In some of our. <br />major water rights battles come In and <br />support and then go back home and <br />start scolding each other about water <br />rights again. <br />We can plan. We can prepare for the <br />development of' our water resources <br />which wll1 be urgently needed In the <br />next 10, 20, and 30 years, 11 we w1ll Just" <br />suspend bureaucratic arguments Jong <br />. enough to Sf't up a planning machinery . <br />which will allow the engineers and the <br />water experts to get together. <br />The Senate Interior and Insular AJlalrs <br />Committee, which has recommended the <br />passage ot S. 1111, has anotller bill be- <br />- fore It, S. 1275, which deals With the State <br />and Federal water rights Issue. We are <br />going to hold hearings on It and Bee If <br />we can take at least a short step toward <br /> <br />~ONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENA" E <br /> <br />settlement of that dispute. I am not <br />sure whether we w1ll be able to or not. <br />But that dispute can be dealt with sep- <br />arately and does not need to impede the <br />passage of S. 1111 to get the planning <br />Job done. <br />Mr. PresIdent, S. 1111, before the Sen- <br />ate today. 5tH] seeks to achieve the same <br />purposes as President Kennedy's bill <br />which is the implementation of recom- <br />mendations I, 2, 4, and 5 of the Senate <br />Select Committee on National Water <br />Resources. <br />Title I of S. 1111 establishes a Water <br />Resources Councn composed of the Sec- <br />retary of the Interior, the secretary of <br />the Anny, the Secretary of Health, Edu- <br />cation. and Welfare. the Secretary ot <br />Agriculture and .the Chairman of the <br />Federal Power CommissIon. Including <br />the five major agencies which have re- <br />sponslbUltles for water resources plan- <br />nlng now. <br />The title charges this Council with <br />perfonnlng one of the Important Jobs <br />recommended by the Select Committee <br />on Water Resources. a biennial assess- <br />ment of water supply and demand in the <br />various regIons of the Nation. <br />This is a considerably more Important <br />function than mat'ly realize. Experience <br />shows that It sometimes takes 20 years <br />and longer to bring major water re- <br />sources facUlties from the planning stage <br />to completion. After all the planning Is. <br />done. alter aU the blue prints for a dam <br />have been completed and Congress hBB <br />actually authorized the first money to <br />start work on a. dam, It sometimes takes <br />6 to "1 years just to construct the access <br />roads, excavate. drill foundations, bore <br />water tunnel8 and finally erect the struc- <br />ture that wlll impound a river's waters. <br />It Is too late to start the planning and <br />COIl8tructlon of a dam after a water <br />shortage is upOn a city. It must be done <br />years in advance. It Is.. .consequently <br />essential that we know years In advance <br />when demand Is going to exceed the <br />supply under different stages of develop- <br />ment. <br />A second major tWlctlon ot the Coun- <br />cn-and a very Important one In some <br />major areas-Is to assess the effeCt that <br />the Individual river basin plans will have <br />on other regions in the Nation. <br />The Mississippi River BasJn has been <br />treated for Federal wa.ter planning and <br />development purposes as six different <br />basins in the past. It has been treated as. <br />a Lower Mississippi" River Basin. the <br />Tennessee, the OhJo, the Upper MIssJs- <br />'slppt River Basin. the Missouri Basin, <br />and the Arkansas-Red-Whlte River <br />Basin. <br />Water management in the Tennessee <br />Valley effects water flows In the lower <br />Mississippi below Cairo, nl., as does water <br />management In the Ohio. Irrigation In <br />Montana. and North Dakota efl'ects the <br />amOWlt of water flowing past Vicksburg. <br />Miss. It Is necessary that there be a <br />Federal agency making certain that In <br />Inst.ances Uke the MissiSSippi basin that <br />the plan for one of Ule six segments does <br />adversely efl'ect others. <br />A second example of Interbasln rela- <br />tionships which must be watched Is In- <br />terbaslD exchange of water. Some of <br />these are Intraata.te.. as In California, <br /> <br />22121 <br /> <br />where it Is planned to divert waler from <br />humid northern CaHrornla areas to arid <br />southern California. Some Instances are <br />Interstate, such as diversions from the <br />Colorado River to the Missouri and Ar- <br />kansas Ri ver basins. <br />A third major task of the Water Re~ <br />sources Council has already been under- <br />taken on an ad hoc basis. We needed <br />a new statement ot Federal principles. <br />standards and policies to provide Federal <br />water agencies with a common guide for <br />Justification and plannlng of water proJ- <br />ects. President Kennedy asked Ute four <br />Ca.binet members In the proposed Coun- <br />cil to meet on an ad hoc basis and prepare <br />such prinCiples and standards, to replace <br />the old a.nd unPopular standards In <br />Budget Circular No. 97. This Job has <br />been successfully accomplished. B. 1111 <br />directs the new Council to keep this work <br />current, to develop common cost alloca- <br />tJon practices and to encourage voJun. <br />tary coordination of the Federal OOv~ <br />ernment's water planning and develop- <br />ment activities. <br />Title n of the bill is where the prInci- <br />pal debate has occurred. It prOVides the <br />pattern for the Federal-State River <br />Basin Planning CommissIons. <br />Under S. 1111 the Federal Govern- <br />ment and the States wlll each appoint <br />. and pay their own representatives in any <br />commission. The Federal and State <br />people w1ll meet as representatives of <br />autonomous Wlits of government. The <br />. Commissions will be truly Federal-State, <br />not Federal Commissions to which the <br />.Presldent has appointed people intended <br />to represent the view point of the dif- <br />ferent States. The Federal Government <br />and the States will share In the budget. <br />Since preparation of the best plan for <br />the development of the water and re- <br />lated land resources of a river basin <br />requires a .determinatlon of the best al- <br />ternatives based on the facts involved <br />and it Is not a pOlitical question which <br />can be settled by voting, no provision Is <br />made for voting In the Commissions. <br />In Instances where the engineers and <br />experts finally disagree on what is the <br />best plan: then the C;ommlssions wIU <br />report to the PresJdent and the Gover- <br />nors. and through them to the legis- <br />lative bodies, on the alternatives. Con- <br />gress ultJmately has to authorize the <br />projects. It wm not be WlU&ual it we <br />have to JUdge occaSionally between al- <br />_ temative DroJects. It wlll be unusual to <br />Judge between alternatives where the <br />engJneerlng facts and the antJclpated. <br />results of the alternatives have been <br />. Clearly defined and we know the exact <br />.nature of the choice we are makJng. <br />The Advisory Commission on Inter.. <br />governmenta.l Relations on which three <br />distinguished. members of this body serve <br />with dlstlnctlon-Senators ERVIN <br />MUNDT, and MUSltIE-has approved thia <br />new type of commission with some en.. <br />thusiasm. <br />The Commission includes representa- <br />tives of the execuUve branch of the <br />Federal Government, Senators. Repre- <br />sentatives. Governors. State legislators, <br />mayors, county omcla18, and Private cit- <br />Izens. <br />The members of the COD1D1lsston, with.. <br />out any dissents. agreed to a report on <br />