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'1 I ~. I ~7 --~~'-~_.,-----~~-~ . . All oj the technica I experts, both those of the Hoover Power allottees and those of the Bureau of Reclamation, advise that to attempt to operate the Hoover units below elevation 1,083 is too risky. In the event these units would have to be shut down by water dropping below this level, a power replacement program in the magnItude of 1,340,000 kilowatts of power would be required. This kind of capacity is Simply not available. If it were Civailable, costs would obviously be prohibitive" For this reason alone, maintenance of elevation 1,083 at Lake Mead is a must even though this would require drawdown of Lake Powell to be resumed in Mid-July. If it appears in July that while Lake Mead can be maintained at elevation 1,083 but Lake Powell nevertheless cannot reach operating level, the question of retaining in Lake Powell the water then in storage in that reservoir or of releasing it to restore the level of Lake Mead will have to be faced. The cost to the Upper Basin Fund might well be less if, under those circumstances, Lake Mead were to be restored and the power-purchase program terminated or reduced. Another hazard involved here is that, even though Lake Powell may go into operation at its minimum level, the runoff next spring could be so low as again to require the lowering of Lake Powell beyond the minimum operating head in order to keep Lake Mead at even a minimum level. ln this event, the Government may well be obligated to buy power at the expense of the Upper Basin fund to supply its, Upper Basin power sales contracts as well as the Hoover powerallottees. While, in view of the present forecast, it may now appear likely that' Lake Powell can reach minimum operating level this summer, resumption of filling should be undertaken only with e'Jeryone' s eyes wide open. If the expected runoff does not materialize, it would, of course, be folly to continue storage at Glen Canyon Dam, and not produce power at either dam. This Department and the states of the Colorado River Basin are entering a new era of water management. The free and easy days of water use are over and the era of water conservation must now begin. The Colorado is but a single river, and from this point forward every acre foot of water saved anywhere on the system is water saved for all. Consequently, a major topic of discussion at my meeting with the Upper Basin-Governors and water officials in Salt Lake City on Friday will be water conservation. And at Las Vegas, on Saturdi'lY, I hope to be in a position, with the cooperation of Lower Basin users, to announce and im- plement a voluntary water conservation program which should produce water saving that will amount to a half million acre feet in 1964. -461-