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<br />14 ,;.~,
<br />
<br />or quantitative units, if available, or in appro-
<br />priate qualitative terms,
<br />The selection of a recommended plan
<br />would be based on judgment after an evalua-
<br />tion of tradeoffs among justified alternative
<br />plans. All concerned interests would partici-
<br />pate in the planning process.
<br />The special task force recommended that
<br />reports on its conclusions and recommenda-
<br />tions,"Principles for Planning Water and
<br />Land Resources," and "Standards for Plan-
<br />ning Water and Land Resources," both dated
<br />July 1970, be approved by the Water Re-
<br />sources Council subject to public hearings
<br />and further revision as necessary, During the
<br />latter part of 1970, implementation of the
<br />procedures was the subject of some disagree-
<br />ments between the Water Resources Council
<br />and the Office of Management and Budget.
<br />Congressional interest in tue proposed
<br />procedures was shown when, on December
<br />31, 1970, Congress passed the Rivers and
<br />Harbors, Flood Control Acts of 1970 (P.L.
<br />91-(11), This legislation includes therein a
<br />statement on the multiobjective approach in
<br />section 209, which reads as follows:
<br />"It is the intent of Congress that the objectives of
<br />enhancing regional economic development, the qual-
<br />ity of the total environment, including its protection
<br />and improvement, the well-being of the people of the
<br />United States, and national economic development
<br />are the objectives to be included in federally financed
<br />water resource projects, and in the c:valuation of bene-
<br />fits and cost attributable thereto, giving due consider-
<br />ation to the most feasible alternative means of accom-
<br />plishing these objectives."
<br />
<br />Type I, Comprehensive Framework Stu-
<br />dies. Under the direction of the Water Re-
<br />sources Council, state and federal agencies
<br />continued working on the Comprehensive
<br />Framework Study of Water and Related
<br />Land Resources (Type I). These studies, re-
<br />ferred to as "Comprehensive," "Frame-
<br />work," or "Type I," are a reconnaissance
<br />type of survey of the land and water re-
<br />sources and needs of specific regions of the
<br />United States.
<br />The Water Resources Council has delegat-
<br />ed to the Pacific Southwest Inter-Agency
<br />Committee (PSIAC) the overall direction of
<br />
<br />these studies for the following four regions of
<br />the Pacific Southwest: Lower Colorado, Up-
<br />per Colorado, Great Basin, and California.
<br />These regions are shown on Plate 9. PSIAC
<br />has redelegated the direction of each region's
<br />study to a regional State-Federal Interagency
<br />Group with overall coordination effected
<br />through the PSIAC's Coordinated Planning
<br />Subcommittee.
<br />The Colorado River Board is the state
<br />agency representing California on the Lower
<br />Colorado Region Framework Studies. The
<br />Board staff participates in the following:
<br />Lower Colorado Region State-Federal Inter-
<br />Agency Group, various committees and
<br />work groups performing investigations,
<br />Coordinated Planning Subcommittee of
<br />PSIAC, and California Region Framework
<br />Studies. Below is a summary of framework
<br />study activities of the various regions during
<br />1970.
<br />
<br />A regional plan for the Lower Colorado
<br />Region was developed which projects that
<br />economic growth within the Region will be
<br />principally in the municipal and industrial
<br />area, with only a comparatively small in-
<br />crease forecast for irrigated agriculture, This
<br />growth would require an increase in the Re-
<br />gion's water supply of about 2 million acre-
<br />feet per year by the year 2020.lfthe Region's
<br />ground water overdraft were to be overcome
<br />during the same time period, an additional
<br />2.5 million acre-feet per year of water would
<br />have to be imported into the Region, Eco-
<br />nomics is not a factor in the Type I Studies,
<br />so technical solutions could be proposed
<br />which could meet all demands, The frame-
<br />work program recognizes the limitation on
<br />studying importation from the Pacific
<br />Northwest and states that, pending study of
<br />that alternative, the water needs of the Low-
<br />er Basin will have to be met by augmentation
<br />of the Colorado River with desalted seawater,
<br />The plan contemplates desalting plants, built
<br />in stages as demands increased, located on the
<br />California coast, with an aqueduct conveying
<br />the desalted water to Lake Mead. The frame-
<br />work plan also indicates that a salinity con-
<br />trol program will be implemented in the
<br />
<br />35
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