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"YARDSTICKS OR ,A LESSON IN THE NEW MATHEMATICS" The Colorado River drains two great basins. The States of Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah and a very small portion of Arizona, lie in what is known,as the Upper Basin of the Colorado River, and Arizona, California, and Nevada lie in the Lower Basin. In 1922, representatives of these states met in Santa Fe and agreed to what they believed was an equitable division of the water of the Qolorado River between the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin. This agreement known as the Colorado River Compact was proclaimed effective by President Hoover in 1929, These representatives obligated the Upper Basin states to deliver to the Lower Basin an average of 7.5 million acre feet per year of 'Colorado River water which they believed was one-half of the average river flow. Since the flow of the Colorado varies greatly--fromsome 4 million acre 'feet to 22 million acre feet per year--regulation of the river flows is necessary in order that Lower Basin water rights can be met on a firm basis, and Upper Basin states can also have beneficial consumptive use of this water. The Upper Colorado River Basin Compact was executed in 1948 by commissioners representing the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming and consented to by Congress in 1949. This Compact apportioned the use of water between the states of the Upper Basin. To meet the provisions of these compacts and to further the development of the Upper Basin it became apparent that an overall plan for regulating and using the water of the Upper Colorado River should be formulated. In 1956, Congress passed Public Law 485 which authorized the construction of such a plan known as the Colorado River Storage Project. This Project is a multi-purpose development with the primary purpose of enabling the Upper Basin to receive its share of river water and to actually deliver water to the Upper Basin states. Large storage reservoirs will regulate stream flows, permit water development projects to be placed on the tributaries of the Colorado, provide for flood con- trol, recreation, fish and wildlife development, and, quoting from the authorizing act, ". . . for the generation of hydroelectric power, as an incident of, the foregoing purposes. . ." Under the authorizing legislation, four major water storage units will be built, as well as eleven "participating projects." These projects are the developments which will actually deliver water to the states for their use. In addition to paying for the authorized participating irriga- tion projects, excess power revenues will also provide for many additional irrigation projects as development of the basin continues. Present esti- mates indicate that almost a billion dollars in irrigation projects can be built during the next 36 years with repayment of, these projects coming from excess project power revenues over the next 86 years.