WSP03806

• File Number: 8221.112
• Description: Central Arizona Project
• State: AZ
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 2/5/1948
• Title: Press Release: Report on Central Arizona Project is Approved
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: News Article/Press Release

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Release to pM:rs, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1948.

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REPORT ON CENTRAL ARI 2DNA ProJECT IS APProVED

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Avproval of a proposed project \'tlich, if approved by the Congress, would pro-
vide urgentl;)' needed power at Bri~o-e Can.yon, above Hoover Dam, for California,

.Ari zona, and other areas. and also, by diversion from the Colorado. supply irri-

gation water needed to avert econor:ri,c: stagnation in Central Arizona, was announced

today by Secretary of the Interior J. A. Krug.

ApproVal of the report does not decide, pretend to decide or prejudice in
any way the Colorado River waterrig}i.ts of tl1e affected States, Secretary KIug ex-
plained. The determination of the questions involved in the Colorado River dis-
pute must be settled by authority other than the Departnant of the Interior, he
said.

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The report was prepared at this tina in response to a request by Senator
Eugene D. Hillikin of Colorado, Chairman of the Irrigation and Reclamation Sub-
committee of the Senate Public Lands Committee. Copies are being sent to the Gov-
ernors of all seven Colorado River Basin States, the Secretary of the Arrrw, and
the wild life resource agencies of .Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, for review and
coL'un6nt. These cO)nI:lents will be attached. to the report when it is translJ1i tted to
the Congress.

"The report," Comnissioner of Reclamation Michael W. Straus explained, "is
designed to meet the t~JO urgent needs in a ll'&-mer which will afford maximum bene-
fi ts, without pretending to decide the controversial Colorado River water q,uestion.
Not only will the power Imde possible by the project serve large areas in critical
need of nnre power, but it also will provide an economic support for repayment of
the cost involved in construction. At the same time, any threat of disruption in
the higl:lly developed agriculture of tho Gila and Salt River valleys because of
insufficient water supplies will bo met. These irrigated areas constitute a pri-
mary basis for the economic structure of the State of Arizona, and their stabili-
zation througtl further water and related resource developront at this time is
highly important to the entire Nation."

Bringing in Colorado River water will fUrnish enough supplemental water to
permit permanent irrigation of 640,000 SCres, he added, but it will not permit de-
velopment of new irrigated lands,

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