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ALAN BIBLE . the project by approving legislation to operate a huge new plant, located off the coast of California, that will more than double the world's capacity for desalting water. A decade ago, the best plant designed could produce only 50,000 gallons per day at a cost of five dollars per thousand gallons. The new plant, powered by nuclear energy, will eventually produce 150 million gallons of fresh water per day at a cost approaching 25 cents per thousand gallons, or about $81 to $88 per acre-foot. That is 3,000 times as much as could be produced 10 years ago at one-twenty-fifth the cost. A study is now underway by the International Atomic Energy Commission and the govern- ments of the United States and Mexico to determine the practicality of huge desalting plants, oper- ated in conjunction with nuclear power plants. These, it is hoped, would provide as much as one bil- lion gallons per day of fresh water and large amounts of electricity for the United States and Mexico. I don't have to tell anyone here what this would mean to the users of the Colorado. There is an excellent possibility the Colorado soon may be the beneficiary of other desalini- zation research. The Public Works bill recently signed by the President includes funds for the Bureau of Reclamation to conduct a reconnaissance study to determine the feasibility of delivering desalted ocean water to the Colorado River's water service area in Southern California. We can only hope these funds will not be among those lopped off by Administration spending cutbacks currently being worked out by the President and his advisers. I am not anticipating this will occur, but it is a possibility that cannot be ignored. As I indicated earlier, time simply will not permit a detailed summary of all the legislation af- fecting the Colorado River and the water needs of the entire West. I have talked only about interbasin transfers, westher modification and desalinization, because these represent the great hope for the fu- ture. I have not touched upon other important areas such as pollution control. As you and I well know, there are no easy answers. Progress can be agonizingly slow. There are times, I am sure, when you have viewed your efforts as a battle against insurmountable odds. But speaking as a charter member of the Colorado River Water Users Association, I can tell you that the battle is being won. I don't think we knew what we were getting into 24 years ago, but once committed, we were determined to fight every step of the way to protect the resources of the river and thus ensure the future growth and development of the Southwest. A lot has changed in the past quarter century, but, happily, the objectives of this Association have not. Much has been accomplished. Much more remains to be done. Today, as before, this Assoc- iation has the men who can do the job. ., -9-