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<br />_ f <br /> <br />tv <br />W <br />(j) <br />i'j <br /> <br />,-. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />PROTECTION OF QUALITY OF WATERS OF THE WESTERN STATES <br />by <br />A. D, Edmonston, State Engineer of California <br /> <br />Presented August 24, 1954, before the 27th <br />Annual Meeting, Association of Western State <br />Engineers, at Kansas City, Kansas <br /> <br />The Western States have been concerned since the incep- <br /> <br />tion of agricultural development, with problems of deficiency of <br />water due both to variation in areal distribution and the sea- <br /> <br />A <br /> <br />sonal and cyclic variation of predpi tation. The recent rapid <br />population increase and attendant industrial, agricultural, and <br />municipal development have aggravated these problems and have <br />also brought into prominence a third problem; that of maintenance <br />of suitable quality of the water resources for present and future <br />beneficial uses. Nearly every state has bodies of surface and <br />ground waters that under natural conditions are so highly min- <br />eralized that they are unsuitable for many beneficial uses. Man <br />in his development and use of water and in attemptsto dispose of <br />waste products from his activities can, if uncontrolled, render <br /> <br />waters of good natural quality equally unsuitable for beneficial <br /> <br />uses. The complexity and seriousness of this problem are fur- <br />ther aggravated by conoentration of much of the new development <br /> <br />in relatively limited areas in each state, <br /> <br />Full development of land and water resources of the <br /> <br />Western States to meet anticipated popul~tion increases requires <br /> <br />conservation and transfer of water from areas of surplus to areas <br /> <br />of deficient local supplies, To accomplish this, full development <br /> <br />of available surface storage sites and full development and <br />