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<br />~f;umla farrners <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />N <br />o <br />00 <br /><..0 <br /> <br />ODDnse U $S. <br />It 1 <br />. <br /> <br />l'iuter prOject <br /> <br />By G1t.,\NT SMITH <br /> <br />Yti\L\ Farmers in this area <br />ch<l!'ged Saturcl8Y tiwt they could be <br />pnt out of business by federal plans to~. <br />impl'ove the q\l~lity of Colorado River:' <br />\'.'(1 tel' going across the border into <br />i\le:dco. <br />Criticism was aimed at U.S. Bureau <br />of H~clal11alion plans to install a sys.. <br />t.em of pumps along the border and to <br />tal,c out of production about 10,000,1 <br />aeres of farmland in the '~f)ilton~ I <br />illohawl; Irrigation District. ,j; .' <br />The c'ommcnts came in a bureau I <br />hC<lring Saturday on an evironmental i <br />impact statement coverl.'1g 'project~ :in I <br />the YUl1.1a area for reducmg saluuty ! <br />levcI~ in the Colorado River. . \ <br />Under an Augllst 30, 1973, agreement I <br />with the !vlcxican government, the U.S. <br />promised to keep the, quality of r,j~er <br />waiN' going into MexIco at a specIfied <br />level. <br />On June 24, Congress approved a <br />series of projects along the river .to <br />meet the agre{~ment requirernents, <br />In the Yuma area, the bureau has. I <br />proposed a desalting plant. the pump-' I <br />ing pl'oj~ct, the lining of the Coachella \ <br />Canal in California and several other <br />related projects. '\ <br />Only William Dubois of the California <br />Farm Bureau commented on the desalt~ j <br />ing plant. . <br />Dl!ba.i~ pointed out that several elee..... I <br />trical gl'nerattng plants are being plan~ " <br />ned along the Colorado River and that <br />each ivill use river water for coolmg, <br />thns increasing the salinity of the I <br />water. <br />'Pile desalting plant is being built to <br />frent only the ivater coming from the. <br />Well ton-Mohawk district, he observed" <br />rnd it \l'iiI requ;"e a great deal of; <br />eledricil,y from the generating plants:. <br />upstream. <br />lie suggested building the gen7rating, <br />plants ill the Yuma area and l~SlIlg ~hc' <br />Weilton.;Vlohawk water for cooling. 'Ihe <br />rrovermncnt would probably s a v e <br />~-;lOn('y, he said, and the river water <br />Cillulity would b~ preserved, <br /> <br />- -~, >-',~ -- <br /> <br />Continued from Page A-I <br /> <br />The rest of the hearing cell- . <br />ten:'d On the pumping project <br />and the decrease in acreage. <br /> <br />E. A, Lundberg, regional di. <br />rector of the Bureau of RecJa- . <br />malion, admitted that studies' <br />had conduded the pumping <br />would lower the water table <br />30 feet in the San Luis area <br />and t.hat the bureau was con~ <br />cerned about what effects this. <br />might have, <br /> <br />Further, he noted, about 60 <br />miles of agricultural drains <br />in Yuma Valley would be <br />rendered inoperative. and <br />most of tbe wUdlife habitat <br />along the river would 'be' <br />dried ouL <br /> <br />However, the. pumping' <br />project was described by the ' <br />Bureau as a protective -effort <br />because a - similar system of <br />pumps are already' in opera- <br />tion on the Mexican side of <br />the bohleI'. If the U,S. does- <br />n't pwnp the water out of : <br />Ihe ground, it will go 10. <br />Mexico the bureau contends" <br /> <br />,Up to 160,000 acre - feet of <br />water a year will be pump- <br />ed, and 125,000 acre - feet . <br />will then go across the bot- <br />der, according to -current: <br />plans. <br /> <br />Thr r.::duction In acreage; <br />was ~roposed to reduce the <br />amount of drainage from the <br />district and help improve the <br />quality of the water. <br /> <br />Andrew Bettwy, Arizona <br />land commissioner, joined <br />the farmers in protesting. Up <br />to 50.000 acres of land in the <br />otate trust could be destroy, <br />ed, Bettwy said, and the <br />trust could lose about $60 <br />million at current prices, <br />'jYou are going to take I <br />watet' out from underneath : <br />this land and revert it back ! <br />to desert," complained EIIl- ' <br />olt Waits, a director of the: <br />Yuma Ivlesa Irrigation Dis. <br />trict. "It will be wOrth Both. <br />ing. It is a gross injustice to <br />the people of Yuma County." <br />Others said farmers in the: <br />,Jrea had worked for years i <br />to make the land productive, 'j <br />and now all tbat work could II <br />be ruined. <br />Wade Peterson, a Wemon I <br />farmer, said he had spent 1 <br />most of his adult life trying I <br />to put land into production I <br />and nOw he had 80 acres <br />that were tagged to be taken <br />Qut-of production. <br /> <br />"]t just doesn't make <br />sense,,'.' he, sa~tl. . <br /> <br />-,-~ ;" -. <br /> <br />, <br /> <br /> <br />~ <br />\ <br /> <br /> <br />'--"".'" <br />