WSP07317

• File Number: 8210.140.20
• Description: Colorado River Basin Organizations and Entities - Colorado River Basin States Forum - California
• State: CA
• Basin: Western Slope
• Date: 1/1/1971
• Author: Myron B Holburt
• Title: Annual Report for the Calendar Year 1970
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Annual Report

, "
,L"S10

and representatives of environmentally-ori-
ented organizations in various parts of the
United States with respect to the Commis-
sion's objectives. The Commission has also
obtained information from expert consult-
ants and federal officials in the field of water
resources.
During 1970, the Commission's efforts
were directed to developing the background
for its future recommendations and final re-
port, Twenty-two special studies and forty
contracts have been assigned, and six panels
of experts and more than twenty consultants
have been engaged, in addition to the Com-
mission's staff,
The Commission has announced that its
legal studies are well under way, and most of
them will be completed by the end of 1971.
Of the fourteen contracts planned in engi-
neering and environmental sciences, two are
complete and the rest are scheduled to be
completed by mid-1971. The Commission's
engineering staff completed three reports on
the state of current technology for augment-
ing water resources through cloud seeding,
desalting, and processing waste water for
reuse. These reports were being reviewed by
consultants at the close of 1970.
Six contracts were awarded in social and
behavioral sciences and six more were being
considered. An ad hoc forecast division was
established within the Commission's staff
during 1970 to make projections of the na-
tion's water requirements under different as-
sumed policies for the future. The staff met
with the Water Resources Council through-
out the year to coordinate the work of the
two organizations.

Water Resources Council. The Water
Resources Council was created by the Water
Resources Planning Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-80)
to provide for the optimum development of
the nation's natural resources through the
coordinated planning of water and related
land resources. The Council is composed of
the Secretaries of Interior, Army, Agricul-
ture, Health Education and Welfare, and
Transportation, and the Chairman of the
Federal Power Commission. In addition, the

34

Secretaries of Commerce and Housing and
Urban Development are associate members
and the Director of the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget, the Attorney General, and
the Chairman of the Council on Environ-
mental Q!!ality are observers. The Council
maintains a continuous study of the nation's
water supplies and water requirements, re-
views existing policies and programs to meet
such requirements, and makes recommenda-
tions to the President with respect to those
policies and programs.

During 1970, a special task force ofthe Wa-
ter Resources Council continued tests of
evaluation procedures on several types of wa-
ter resources projects. The tests utilized the
procedures described in the task force's June,
1969 report entitled "Procedures for Evalua-
tion of Water and Related Land Resources
Projects." Ten projects of various types were
selected for field tests, and 19 tests were made
to determine whether, in interpreting the
evaluation procedures, different teams can
accomplish appropriate results and achieve
reasonably uniform comparability in ap-
plication. The test teams were instructed to
undertake the tests in two distinct steps: (I)
measurement of effects in terms of benefits
and costs, and (2) formulation of alternative
plans,
The task force concluded that the multi-
objective approach is practical and that
meaningful results and uniform application
could be achieved by establishing carefully
structured principles and standards and
procedures for planning, The task force
recommended that planning for the use of
water and land resources should be carried
out in the context of four broad objectives
relating to national economic development,
environmental quality, quality of life, and re-
gional development, and that each objective
should be given equal consideration. Under
this approach, a system of accounts would be
set up for each alternative plan, all positive
and negative effects would be evaluated, and,
values would be entered into each of the ac-
counts for the four broad objectives, values
would be expressed in appropriate monetary