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<br />., <br /> <br />...' 0 r, i "l ., ~ <br />u_......, . . <br />The Administration is acutely aware of these needs and's responsibility of <br /> <br />the Federal Government in their fulfillment. As you 1010W, only a few months ago <br />President Eisenhower designated Secretary of the Interior McKay to head a cabinet <br /><Joinmittee on water resources policy. In a letter to Secretary McKay he wrote, and <br />I quote: <br /> <br />"If Io/e are to continue to advance agriculturally and industrially, <br />\,'6 must make the best use of every drop of \oI8ter which falls on our soil, <br /> <br />or that can be extracted from the oceans. It is my desire that this <br /> <br />Administration furnish effective and resotlrceful leadership in establish- <br /> <br />ing national policies and improving the administrative organization <br /> <br />needed to conserve and best utilize the full potential of Otlr water <br /> <br />resources. II <br /> <br />In addition to this positive statement, the A~inistration dtlring the last two <br /> <br />years has made several major recommendations to Congress for authorization of recla- <br /> <br />~ution projects for future construction. Some of these are comparatively small units <br /> <br />which can be brought into production witpin a few years after construction is <br />started. Others are major river casin developnents \mich will take d~bades to com- <br /> <br />plete. They are all tailored to fit the need of the particular areas. <br /> <br />Thus, there is clear evidence that the Federal Government has no intention of <br /> <br />~brogating its responsibility in water resotlrces development. However, there is <br /> <br />equally clear evidence that it does not intend to usurp the rights and prerogatives <br /> <br />of the States, and is, indeed, calling for a much greater degree of local partici- <br /> <br />pation and responsibility. <br />As I have stated, it is well to remember that out of. the 26,000,000 acres of <br />irrigated land in the Western United States, nearly three-fourths \~s developed by <br /> <br />local, cooperative enterprise without Federal participation. About 7,000,000 acres <br /> <br />:3 <br />