Letter from Secretary of the Interior

Letter: From Stewart Udall, to Governor Brown, June 12, 1963 (carbon copy), page 2battlegrounds of yesteryear. Extended controversies and protracted litigation do not develop water for the people's needs. Such a course will not help the Pacific Southwest prosper. Historically, the Congress and the people of the west have called upon the Department of the Interior and its Bureau of Reclamation to serve as the focal point in cooperative efforts for water planning and action programs. Much of the present prosperity of the region rests on the successful programs evolving from those efforts and also from those of municipalities and water districts. In an effort to do our part in continuing to meet the Department's responsibility, I have today taken the following steps to develop a five-State, lower basin, regional water plan geared to the future needs of the people of the Pacific Southwest: 1. I have appointed a special departmental task force to prepare a sound comprehensive report for a regional water development geared to a basin account, to be ready for review by the affected States as soon after August 15, 1963, as possible. 2. After receiving the comments of the affected States pursuant to the Flood Control Act of 1944, the Department will then be prepared to have an appropriate report and implementing proposals ready for presentation to the Congress when it convenes in January 1964. I am confident that these consultations will lead to a regional water plan which will respect the water rights of your State and also meet its future needs. May I also at this time raise one other important issue for your consideration. Since the June 3 opinion of the Supreme Court, some officials of the three affected lower basin States have raised 2Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 24 bit, 2,093,745 byte