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<br />. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />SECRETARY'S INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT <br />JULY 25, 1969, MEETING - DENVER, COlDRAOO <br />OPEIlATING CRITERIA, COLORADO RIVER SYSTEM <br /> <br />It is a unique and an initial pleasure for me to welcOme you <br /> <br />representatives of the seven great Colorado River Basin States to <br /> <br />this meeting on the future operating criteria of the Colorado <br /> <br />River system. As a westerner I appreciate the difficulties that <br /> <br />may be encountered in trying to reach agreement on criteria. <br /> <br />After all, water is the lifeblood of each State and entity repre- <br /> <br />sented here. However, through discussions among reasonable men, <br /> <br />criteria can be established that are workable and acceptable even <br /> <br />though not containing everything each participant may want. <br /> <br />As you all know, enactment of the $l.J billion Colorado River <br /> <br />Basin authorization of September JO, 1968, climaxed a 20-year <br /> <br />legislative legal battle and made possible the planning and con- <br /> <br />struction of urgently needed facilities for the Nation's No.1 <br /> <br />water supply priority area, the parched southwest. Passage of <br /> <br />this measure marked the largest single package Reclamation <br /> <br />authorization bill ever approved by the Legislative and Executive <br /> <br />Branches of our Government. <br /> <br />Bills to authorize the Central Arizona Project were first intro- <br /> <br />duced into the Congress in 1948, following completion in 1947 of <br /> <br />a Bureau of Reclamation feasibility study. The Senate passed <br />