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r ! I I 0025H Summing up what might be considered a California con- sensus on the administration plan, the Los A.ngeles Times called it a "watery compromise" that was "neither regional in scope nor creative in development." "It is, in fact, not so much a plan as a series of concessions," said a Times editorial. . Upper Basin Opposition Nor were other Upper Basin people any happier about the proposal. Sen. Frank E. Moss (D,-Uhh) said he saw it also as a dep:uture from the traditional approach to reclamation, by shifting the burden of repayment from power sales to users. "This new concept," he said, "would make many or perhaps most of our Western water projects uneconomical and would deprive us of redistribution of our water supplies to areas which have the greatest need." And the Denver Post saw the plan as "too simple," lacking as it did any provision for a water im- . portation study or the building of dams. "If there is no balanced approach to Colorado River resources," said the Post, "the CAP bill as Udall envisions it becomes just a high-priced bid by Arizona to grab surplus W:l.ter which belongs to Colorado, Utah :l.nd Wyoming. The upstream states will need that water by about 1990. If Arizona is g-ranted the use of that surplus, there is little possibility the upstream states will be able to get it' back when they need it. The only real possibility is by ex- change-probabiy by importation.". The Post said it hoped a compromise could be achieved, with some provision for impor- tation or replacement studies. "If not, the Rocky. Mountain region likely will have to oppose all .Arizona water legislation," said the newspaper. "This is a prospect serving nobody's best . interest." It came as no surprise to Arizonans that the Sierra Club liked the administration plan, although Executive Director Brower warned that "the battle in Grand Canyon is not over." He had in mind the fact that Arizona was now petitioning the FPC for a license to build Marble. . . A few days after disclosure of the new administration plan for the Colorado River and the resultant flurry over it, the Senate p:l.ssed :l. n:l.tional water commission bill for the second time. Senators from the Colorado Basin states weren't very happy with it. Thev feared thl'lt it would be used to sidetrack studies on diversion of wl'lter from the Northwest. But Senator ,Jackson l'lssured them that the commission would be objective in its studies of national water problems. Every region "which either has, or which might in the future, experience water resource problems will be the benefici:l.ry of the dispassionate, comprehensive, in-depth study which this bill will provide," he said. -43- ,,'