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I MECA RESOllJTION #2. . . . . NATJ \L WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT I WHEREAS, the Federal water resources development program has, since its inception with the Reclamation Act of i902, provided an urgently needed stimulus to the development of rural areas, and the arid west, and WHEREAS, these programs of Federal investment in water resource development have provided and can provIde additional and necessary recreational, flood control, trans- portation, irrigation and electric power benefits to all the people of the Nation, and WHEREAS, water resources development has been the largest single program by which Federal investment has significantly worked to retain population in rural areas rather than forcing migration to the cities, and WHEREAS, the continuing for~ed migration of rural residents to the over- crowded and congested.cities is creating social and economic problems requiring tremendous expenditures of public funds, and , WHEREAS, the Federal water resources program which could reverse these migrations and save future public expenses in the cities has in recent years been significantly eroded by, among other factors: . 1, The unwillingness of successive national administrations to seek, and the unwillingness of Congress to adequately fund, water resource development programs which are clearly in the public interest. 2. The reliance by the Office of Management and Budget and the Federal Water Resources Council on economic, as opposed to social measurements, such as the recent decision to employ a 7 per cent discount or interest rate in calculating the cost of new projects in determining the feasibility of water resource projects. 3. The reliance on outmode1 methods of determining benefits and allocating costs of Federal water r~ource projects has ,resulted in a distortion of how costs should be born by beneficiaries of multiple purpose projects in view of society's changed values and failed to guide the investment of the availab+e Federal dollars to those projects which will provide the maximum benefit to society at the lowest cost, and WHEREAS, individuals and organizations .who should be supporting Water Resource Development and the construction of clean economic hydro-electric power projects obviously fail to understand the purposes and objectives of these public activities as evidenced by reports and pronouncements developed on distortions of the true facts. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Mid-West Electric Consumers Association urges: 1, That Congress and the Administration recognize the social and economic values , of vastly increased Federal investment'in the Nation's water resources, and develop these resources in rural areas to make these:areas more attractive for people, as a step toward reversing the forced migration from rural to urban areas. 2, That the Office of Management and Budget and Federal Water Resources Council reverse their reliance on arti1'icially high interest rates for evaluation of new water resource projects and establish new criteria incorporating social values as the primary cri teria. 3. That the Administration.revise its cost allocation and payout standards for present and future water resource projects so that unfair burdens on Federal power custom- ers will be relieved, 4, That the Mid-West Electric Consumers Association continue its active and aggressive support for multi-purpose water resources development including a continuing effort to better inform the public on the nature and value of these programs. AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED; that in recognition of the intimate partnership between power users and other beneficiaries of Federal water resource development programs, that Mid-West urges its members to participate actively in water resource organizations in their respective states.