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G.NOR GOODWIN J. KNIGHT FOR FEATHER RIVER PROJECT ; '~, '.'; .5';' FORMER GOVERNOR EARL WARREN &OVED 002,1 0 OF THE PROPOSAL Governor Knight expre$$ed him$elf with reference to the Feather River Project in an addre$$ on January 6, 1954, before the Oroville Chamber of Commer"e. He dated in p.rt a$ follow$: "Moreover, through the development of the Feather River Project I you will be assured a continuous, nonflooding water $upply adequate to meet all your pre$ent and future need$. AI$o, any water that may be exported will come from what is now excess and waste water. At the present time1 this excess water serves no beneficial pur- pO$e; but the development of the Fe.ther Itiver Project will con$erve it .nd put it to good U$e for all our people. "While we m.y h.ve enough w.ter tod.y to meet our immedi.te needs, unle$$ we de...elop huge .ddition.1 $UP- plie$ within the next few yean, by 1975 wem.y find our people-20 million by then-eng.ged in . m.d, hyderic.1 $cr.mble for every drop of w.ter .v.il.ble. Becau$e, .t the pre$ent time, we $imply h....e not developed f.cilitie$ enough to t.ke c.re of th.t m.ny people. "We h.ve a problem f.cing U$ th.t "ould become. nightm.re if we do not pl.n .nd build now, I know th.t you h.ve he.rd th.t 1,000 people. d.y .re coming to C.liforni. and h.ve been for the p.d twelve or thirteen years. Do you realize this re.presents 300 new families a d.y and that 300 familie$ require. minimum of 300 new job$ every d.y. To h.ndle thi$ $itu.tion we mU$t continue to develop our I.nds.nd .ttr.ct m.jor indudry; .nd to do either, we first must- make a' capital investment in water, for water and water alone' is the limiting factorj water at a reasonable price-usable w.ater. Without this water our economic system could collapse." He concluded with the following remark$: liAs Governor, I, too, am thrilled at the miraculous things the Feather River Project can do for California, for our entire future is based upon the adequate development- of our water resources. "Remember, without sufficient water, California cannot continue to grow and prosperi with it, nothing can stop us. "I pledge mY$elf to do everything pO$$ible to $peed up the pl.nning, thefin.ncing, .nd the .ctu.1 condru"tion of this important project which means so much to you, to me, .nd to.1I of the people of our gre.t St.te." 6 Former Governor Warren expressed himself very posi- tively on the propo$ed Feather River Project in . radio bro.dc.$t in July, 1951, .$ follow$: "I do consider It (feather River Project LegIsla- tion) tremendot.sly Important. I believe it will be more Important to the California of the next dec- ade than the Ctintral Valley Project Is to us now. It Is the first important step we have taken to add to our State Water Plan sInce back In 1933 when the Central Valley Project was authorized. "The legi$l.tion jud .pproved provide$ for St.te con. druction of the Feather River D.m .nd power plant .bove Oroville .nd . $erie$ of c.nal$ which would c.rry the $ur- plus water to areas of wat~r deficiency. There are several ph.$e$ to the project. In tot.1 it i$ $0 big th.t it over$h.dow$ any water project, heretofore undertaken in the West. or in the world, for th.t m.tter. The d.m would be higher th.n Sh.d. D.m and develop .bout the $ame .mount of new water .nd power. The d.m would provide flood con. trol for the highly developed 'pe.ch bowl' in Sutter .nd Yuba counties and a firm irrigation supply for that entire area. Waters released from the reservoir and not used in the S.cr.mento V.lley .re. would flow into the S."r.- mento-S.n Jo.quin Delt. .nd there be .v.ilable for pump- ing to other areas. "Our engineer$ h.ve determined th.t it would be fe.$- ible to move Fe.ther River w.ter from the S.cr.mento-S.n Jo.quin Delt. into Southern C.liforni.. In f.ct, the project contempl.te$ m.king .v.i1.ble I,BOO,OOO .cre-feet of w.ter for Southern C.liforni. U$e. It would .1$0 m.ke an .ddition.1 supply av.i1.ble for S.nt. CI.r. .nd AI.med. . countie$.$ well .$ portion$ of the S.n Jo.quin V.lley. "Whenever in California there is surplus water being wasted. plans for its conservation ar~ imperative. And that is wh.t we .re propo$ing on the Fe.ther River. We are pro- pO$ing to harneu the I.rged uncontrolled river in the v.lley .nd to tr.n$port ih $urplu$ w.ters to .re.$ direly in need of . $upplement.1 water $upply. "The actIon taken by the Legislature constItutes a declaration of polley that the State of California will undertake, Insofar as possIble, the develop- ment and control of its own water resources. That is one of the reasons why I consIder Its actIon so significant. . . "The .ction of the legi$l.ture incorpor.ted the Feather River Project into our over-.II St.te W.ter Plan .nd .u- thorized fin.ncing through the i$$u.nce of revenue bonds when the W.ter Project Authority of C.liforni. determine$ ih economic fe.$ibility,... The Fe.ther River Project i$ now p.rt of our St.te W.ter PI.n." 7