Memorandum on Pacific Southwest Regional Water Commission

Memorandum: From Kenneth Holum & W.B. Bennett, to Stewart Udall, Pacific Southwest Regional Water Commission, Dec 24, 1963, page 2"prepare and keep up to date, to the extent practicable, a comprehensive, coordinated, joint plan for Federal, State, interstate, and local development of water and related resources " in the region. Commission members would be appointed by interested States and Federal agencies. There would be an independent Federal chairman appointed by the President, and a vice chairman elected by the State members. We understand that during consideration by the Senate Interior Committee of S. 1111 the following basin States endorsed the bill including Title II: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The latter two conditioned their endorsement by recognizing existing commissions in the region and noting that additional bodies in duplication thereof should not be established. The views of Nevada are not recorded in the S. 1111 hearing report, but it is believed that Nevada does not oppose the bill. Although the pattern of S. 1111 is acceptable in most respects, we believe that certain departures should be made in view of the history of the basin and the unique role of the Secretary of the Interior. Most importantly, we believe that the Secretary should be the chairman of the coordinating commission, with the right to appoint a deputy to serve in his absence. The Secretary has unique responsibilities as the water master for the Colorado River. Under the Boulder Canyon Project Act, no one can take water except under contract with the Secretary. The Supreme Court determined in Arizona v. California that the Secretary bears the responsibility for allocating shortages on the river, if any; this is an obligation he cannot ignore or share with anyone else. No commission can perform any more than an advisory role with respect to the Secretary's discharge of his Congressionally assigned and judicially confirmed responsibilities. It should be recognized that each of the States in the region has staff already at work on State water problems. Planning staffs of Army, Agriculture, and HEW are active in the region in addition to those of Interior. The task of the commission would be to coordinate the work of these staffs, but not to supplant them. 2Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 2,692,713 byte