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.... Or, I '. q ,. u"",,",,-,\ . . 'The National Reclamation Association as a body and you as individuals can do a great deal in clearing this road toward reclamation progress. One step would be the assumption of responsibility at the State level for the clarification of State water codes. Particularly is there need for State legislation dealing with ground water. In the planning and operation of Reclama- tion projects, we want to abide by State water laws, but ambiguities and, in some instances, total absence of State statutes place us in a difficult position. Another would be to achieve a better balance between the preservation of a right to make future consumptive uses of water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial purposes and more immediate downstream demands. Water committed down- stream for nonconsumptive purposes will be nearly impossible to regain for upstream use. You can support the very obvious need for further investigation and catalogu- ing of our available supplies of water, both surface and underground. An orderly and sustained investigations program in which the States and their subdivisions participate is one of the most essential factors in a continuing program. You can compromise your sectional differences in the best traditions of American democracy and present unity and agreement in seeking authorization of projects for future construction. There are some genuine differences existing over water rights, and in some cases perhaps they can be resolved only in the courts. But such differences in specific cases should not be allowed to sidetrack progress of other unrelated proposals. You can do the Nation a real service in correcting the misinformation and erroneous impressions which have been created by those individuals and groups who have opposed Reclamation. Daniel Webster asked, more than a century ago, "To what use could we ever hope to put these great deserts and these endless mountain ranges?" 11