The Lower Colorado River Basin Project Senate Report

Document: 88th Congress, 2d Session, Senate Calendar No. 1267, The Lower Colorado River Basin Project, Report No. 1330, Agust 6, 1964, page 99 THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN PROJECT SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS A bill to authorize the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Lower Colorado River Basin project, and for other purposes. TITLE I-LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN PROJECT Section 101 Section 101 is patterned after section 1 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act (45 Stat. 1057) and section 1 of the act of April 11, 1956, the Colorado River Storage Project Act (70 Stat. 105). It states that the object of the bill is "to provide a program for the further comprehensive development of the water resources of the Lower Colorado River Basin." It also establishes the policy of the Congress that the Secretary of the Interior shall continue to develop a regional water plan to serve as the framework under which existing and future projects in the Lower Colorado Basin may be coordinated and constructed with proper timing. The reclamation of lands authorized by this bill will provide for the maintenance of the existing irrigation economies rather than for their expansion (sec. 105 (c) (1)). The reference to "improvement of conditions for fish and wildlife" includes both preservation and enhancement. The declaration of policy and the reference to the provision of additional water reflect one of the major purposes of the bill, that is to establish a means whereby new units may be authorized, in an orderly and efficient manner, to augment the natural water supply of the Lower Colorado River Basin. As projects or works are determined to be feasible and desirable, they would be proposed to the Congress. The potential for development of the area dependent on the lower Colorado River for a water supply is enormous and far outstrips the capabilities of that stream. The Lower Colorado River Basin is growing at one of the most rapid rates in the Nation. But while its population is increasing, its water supply is decreasing due to increasing use in the upper basin, unprecedented low runoff during the past 34 years, and the overexploitation of underground reservoirs. Unless a means of augmenting its water supply is provided, expansion of development in the basin must soon cease and regression, which has already occurred in some areas, will be aggravated. Water, however, need not be the limiting factor in development of the basin. The bill would replace the concept of water as a limiting resource with the concept of development based upon the provision of water to meet all economic demands. The units authorized by this bill initiate the Lower Colorado River Basin project (secs. 104 and 201). They will provide the means for effecting a redistribution of the use of the waters of the main stream in accordance with the Court's decree. They do not, however, meet the need for additional water. This need can be met only by providing new sources of supply. It is necessary, therefore, that provisions for authorizing the means of making additional supplies available (secs. 102, 103) be coordinated with the provisions for using the present limited supply. The Lower Colorado River Basin is defined in the bill as it is defined in the Colorado River compact. It means those parts of the States of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah *S. Rept. 1330, 88-2-2Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 1,737,512 byte