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<br />Western States Water Council <br />Meeting <br /> <br />Boise, Idaho <br />April 12, 1974 <br /> <br />N <br />N <br />W <br />{'..) <br /> <br />the rights of the Basin States to develop their remaining entitle- <br />ments in the river. The states and EPA have agreed that the way <br />to accomplish this objective is to undertake the program of control <br />of salt inputs to the river that would be initiated by Title II of <br />H.R. 12165, <br /> <br />Fou rth, the Administration's bill fails to make adequate <br />provisions for replacement of the reject stream and losses <br />resulting from the inoperability of the desalting plant, The <br />Administration bill recognizes the responsibility to replace these <br />waters, but ties actual replacement to the provision of the <br />Colorado River Basin Project Act that recognizes the entire <br />Mexican Treaty burden as a national responsibility, It can be <br />argued, however, that this provision does not become effective <br />until the Colorado River water has been augmented in the amount <br />of 2 1/2 million acre-feet per year. It is not reasonable to ask <br />the states to wait for relief on desalting plant losses until the <br />river has been augmented in any such amount especially in light <br />of the fact that the Office of Management and Budget has quashed <br />or seriously maimed all studies in progress or in prospect to <br />determine means of augmenting the Colorado River in such <br />amounts. While it is impossible to forecast at this point in time <br />how reject stream replacement can best be effected, we are <br />optimistic that the studies called for in H. R. 12165 can provide <br />adequate replacement water at a much earlier date than would be <br />possible were it to be part of a 2 Y. million acre-foot augmentation <br />of the river, <br /> <br />Fifth, the Administration's bill is silent on the issue of source <br />of power for the d""salting plant and the protective pumping although <br />there is some mention of the problem as it relates to the power <br />needs of the desalting' p-l.ant in the section-by-section analysis <br />that accompanied the Administration's bill. Because of the very <br />real energy shortage in the basin, we also must have a federal commit- <br />ment that the substantial electric power demand of the desalination <br />plant and the protective pumping will not be supplied by reducing <br />or diverting energy now supplied to preference customers of the <br />Bureau of Reclamation generating plants. <br /> <br />A-10 <br /> <br />" '-;' <br /> <br />e~~ <br />-'~- .",' . <br />~.Ii" i1' <br />.~!:.", <br /> <br /> <br />