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<br />.;.J <br /> <br />00225. <br /> <br />() (:, 1.-1- ')'f- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />of our water resources, our ,~ter uses and our water control is completely piece- <br />meal, and we should reject it." <br />This attitude is already evident in the support the President is giving to <br />several major reolamation proposals for fUture development. For example, in the <br />Upper Colorado River Basin, five States first joined in a compact to apportion the <br />available water, then worked out a total plan f'or the utilization of this wate:'. <br />The plan was developed with the technical and engineering assistance of the <br />Bureau of Reclamation. It represents the best principles of water conservation and <br />use which have been established in more than half a century of Federal participa- <br />tion in the \'!est1s \later resources development. <br />There is the principle of upstream storage, holding as much of the water as <br />possible at a high elevation until such time as it is needed for downstream use. <br />There is the principle of' multipurpose, integrated use. Irrigation and other <br />consumptive uses ,have first priority but to the extent they are practicable other <br />benefits are also realized, including hydroelectric power production, improvement <br />of fish and wildlife resources and recreation purposes. <br />It is notable that in the proposed authorizing legislation for the Upper <br />Colorado River Storage project, there is a definite fund earmarked for rscreation <br />and park development purposes. This is one of the first times such a designation <br />has been proposed in a Reclamation authorization bill. <br />Another principle contained in the Upper Colorado ,River Storage project is <br />the pooling of revenue from the several hydroelectric plants for amortizing the <br />bulk of the costs of the project, including the irrigation development. Since the <br />early days of Federal participation in the reclamation effort, thls means of <br />f:\.ne.ncing has been most important. lllthout it or some other means of financing, <br /> <br />3 <br />