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.-.... l - I . O\i 1 ~J i -~r '& . .. ~ THE L'ANVER POST - 'Ell 1'1l0HLDIS Interstate Units On the Way Out? n,.. no:-;col<: FLE:uJ:\G DEPUTY DIRECTOR EL~IER STAATS of the U.S. Bureau of the Budget dropped at least a mild blockbuster when he intimated to mem- bers of the nation's Interagency Basin Committees t Boulder last week that these organizations might e on their way out. You remember their origin, led by that of the Missouri Basin Interagency Committee. This was set up in the \'ast Missouri Valley to forestall any pO:i~ sibility of a Missouri Valley Authority. TIlf.' MBIC ha~ now had 112 m{'('Ungs, ineluding the Inter- agency "nallonal convention" at Boulder at which it was host. It ('Om- prise!l Officials of seven red- ('ral ag('ncie~ _ with the statt's consult- ed, but with- out voting p<l\\'cr. It has work- ed reasonably well so far, in carrying on the huge MI.s~OI.Iri Ba,in program on which bil. lIons oC dollars .f'l'> being spl"nt, ICral''''' art;' appearln!:: In the \naSin'll fabrle or agrl'l'lUtnt. but thr~1l an" not the fauU of 1he Intf'ragrm')" M'tup In It. lOotlr. I On the other hand, the 'states feel in effect. as if ~theY'd been relegated to lhe ~posjtion of the small boy ~"he]pil1g daddy dri~-e" by being only allowed to hold lithe slal:k of the reins. And \~ith the multiplying of of lnteragl'mcy commlttccs, lsome state official.. feel that t~ir time Is too much taken up just to keep up with inter- agency meetil1g~ and aUain!. . . FOR th<>re are now !lve s~c"h CtITtlminee$--for the PacifIC Southwest. the Arkansas, Whitl", Red, the Columbia Basin, and most surprL..ingly, New England. Colorado be. lon:;:s to three. Flrmin( . Tllu..luq, 23. 1960 TII~lr fellrral mrmh<rrll. at Ita~l. ""tmed at Roulder to b1! quite hajlpy and 8lltl'!lflM In Ih..lr worl.":, ..0 It W;U1 a hit ('hlllinJ; for Staab to teU them plainly, &.'1 h., dill, Ihat floch JDMe ZUllI Informal 0"3.0118.' lion_without any actual ba. sl. In law_ttm inadt'quatt' 10 the in('rt'a~IDl:ly t'normou... and compin d..mand'l of th", na.- llomal water ('",((rant of Ihe n.."t lo)"r&n. Staats suggested that the policy group for each basin or region might be-by act of Congrtss-an all.basin water I'Cl'OUrC1'!l commission whose members would be named by the presIdent; a chairman. repreSE'ntatlvt'S of each major federal agency, one or more members from each state, and representatives, "where ap- propriate," at any affected in. terstate compact organization. Unlike the inter-agency com. mitll'es which rely entirely on staffers Joantd from the agencies, each such policy t'Ommittee would have its own J<<taff, permanent legal au\OOr- lty, and would "serve S!l the principal agency lor the c0- ordination of federal. state and toeat plans. . . would pl"'e-- pare and keep cun-ent a com. preht>nsi\'e integrated joint pJ:m . . . and would recom. mend a long.range schedule of priorities for inn~stigation$ and planning, and als 0 for construction." . . I I I ~ I . I I I pRESU~ABLY ""ti1"';"' inter. - agency committee, would remain in being to correlate day-to-day ....'Wk. but would Jose their status as, in ellect, one.purpose GOverning bodies in the basins. nus certainly seems a .....orthwhile sUiiestion, espe- cially as no technical or con- struction difficulties in the .im. mense project of supplying the U. S. of 2.000 A. D. with adequate water. seem as dif- ficult as the economic and politit'al 00('$,