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<br />...,: -.' <br /> <br />00227f' <br />This is the ~dbasket of <br /> <br />the Nation, and <br /> <br />. <br />there is <br /> <br />no thought of <br /> <br />ag:r1cul ture. <br /> <br />changing it. The irrigated acres would be a very small percentage of the total area. <br /> <br />What irrigation can accomplish is a diversity of crops in the acreage which can <br />be supplied with water. They also provide the stability of assured production in <br />those periods of drouth which have too often meant disaster in the past. As the <br />Austin project in Oklahoma has demonstrated, these advantages are too important to <br /> <br />overlook. <br /> <br />This, then, is the future of reclamation. There is no question but that it is <br /> <br />going forward in all parts of the West with renewed emphas:!,s on local participation, <br />local responsibility, and local leadership. <br /> <br />As engineers, we must look ahead. We must focus not alone on this year or <br /> <br />next, but on five, ten Md t\fenty years in the future. It takes time and money to <br /> <br />plan water conservation projects, and more years to construct and place them in <br /> <br />op"lration. <br /> <br />We must think of the demand for the future and concentrate on efforts to con- <br /> <br />serve the water where it can be used for maximum economic benefit. <br /> <br />We stand ready to azsist as authorized and directed by Congress and the <br /> <br />Administration. Working together, I am sure we can continue to keep ahead of the <br /> <br />demands for water in our expanding economy. <br /> <br />xxx <br /> <br />66553 <br /> <br />9 <br />