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.. / - / 1, OC1Q49 , WHY I AM AGAINST AVA BY RALPH L. CARR Governor of Colorado (Written Especially for The Rocky Mountain News) Every Colorado citizen should understand the provisions of the so~called AVA bill now pending in Congress and its certain effects upon his interests, whether he be a farmer, a professional man or a merchant, Probably no piece of proposed federal legislation has ever called for suoh close analysis and study in this state, The J.e gal advisers and irrigati on experts of 13 of the semi~arid Western states agreed unanimously at a recent conference in Denver that the bill should be defeated. These irrigation specialists said that it could not be amended so as to protect the rights of the people and the states of the West. Surely their verdict is to be given full weight and consideration, ! ; The II" oposal to cont rol the waters of the four rivers involved doe~ not deal only with flood or surplus waters, as some have mistakenly asserted, It is ~possible to frrone an amendment which will enable the uppor states to enjoy a full measure of irrigation growth and develop~ ment under the provisions of a bill which makes flood control and the development of hydro_electrio power its basic objectives, Cheap power is an ultimate which no fair~minded person opposes. But with the vast coal' deposits of Southern Colorado offering the moans for developing power, with the John Martin Dam in Bent County in the course of construction on the Arkansas itself, with the Big Thompson project in Northorn Colorado preparing to develop power in great quantities, it is difficult to understand why the power question on the Arkansas, insofar as Colorado is concerned, becemes more important than the protection of our irrigation. Cheap power, if it involves the irrigation rights of the Arkansas Valley, is too high a price, If irrigation is crippled, the ability of the people to purchaso power at any price is definitely lowered, . l. ~; ': STATE'S RIGHTS MUST BE GUARDED , If power is to be developed only on the three other rivers mentioned in the bill and not on the Arkansas, as has been suggestod by its sponsors, it is difficult to understand why the Arkansas should bo included within the bill at all, ~ " -I.