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003236 UNITED STATES PACIFIC SOUTHWEST INTER-AGENCY COMMITTEE Office of the Chairman . 2828 CHILES ROAD DAVIS, CALIFORNIA 95616 . (916) 758-2200 EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: Virgil L. 8acklund CHAIRMAN: William H. Payne .Assistant State Conservationist USDA Soil Conservation Service MEMBERS Arizona California Colorado Idaho Nevada New Mexico Oregon Utah Wyominll USDA ARMY COMM ENERGY HUD USDI DOT EPA September 24, 1981 Mr. Jeff M. Sirmon Regional Forester Intermountain Regional Headquarters U.S. Forest Service 324 25th Street Ogden, Utah B4401 Dear Mr. Si rmori: The Pacific Southwest Inter-Agency Committee (PSIAC) has been sponsoring studies of the region's water and land resources for many years. As many study reports have shown, the Colorado River Basin, which includes seven of the nine states covered by PSIAC, faces a serious water shortage in the future. The significance of this impending water shortage has national ramifications in view of the tremendous reserves of fossil energy resources within the basin, the development of which will require the consumption of large quantities of water. The Congress has recognized the unique water problems of the Colorado River Basin, and, in Public Law 90-537, directed the development of plans to meet both present and future requirements. In recognition of the Congressional directive, the impending water shortage in the basin, and national interest in the many resources of the Colorado River Basin, PSIAC several years ago requested the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a reconnaisance investiga- tion of the possibility of augmenting streamflow by vegetation management on Forest Service lands within the Colorado River Basin. The Secretary of Agriculture directed the U.S. Forest Service to conduct such an investiga- tion, and a November 1979 report on that investigation was published by the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. That report concluded that if vegetation management is practiced judiciously, additional water can be produced from the Colorado River Basin watersheds while improving a variety of other resource values. After completion of that study, the PSIAC concluded that a feasibility investigation of increasing runoff in the Colorado River Basin through vegetation management on Forest Service lands would be warranted, and requested the U. S. Forest Service to provide estimates of the cost and scheduling of such a feasibility investigation. In reply, PSIAC was informed of the ongoing planning efforts of the U.S. Forest Service, leading to the preparation of regional plans and individual forest plans B-22 -.l,"< ~~~ .i:.