Statement by U.S. Senator Thomas H. Kuchel

Statement by U.S. Senator Thomas H. Kuchel before the subcommittee on irrigation and reclamation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affaris, United States House of Representatives on the Lower Colorado River Basin Project Legislation, Monday, August 23, 1965, page 7-7- acre-feet per year, we sought protection against the Central Arizona Project only to the extent of 4.4 million acre-feet per annum. California's position was based on historic principles of western water law which protect existing projects from destruction by new uses. During the April, 1964, hearings there was a consensus that Arizona's water problem should be tackled within the framework of a regional plan designed for the benefit of the entire water-short Southwest, along the general lines of Secretary Udall's proposed Pacific Southwest Water Plan. The facts of life led to two inseparable conclusion: Water must be imported into the Lower Basin, and existing projects must be protected until that water arrives in sufficient quantity to supply the newcomer as well as the pioneer. Consequently, on April 22, 1964, I introduced S. 2760, 88th Congress, which contained the framework for a regional plan within which I hoped the Colorado River states and neighboring states might work, as good neighbors, to solve the problems of the Pacific Southwest, which are truly national, indeed, international, in scope. My bill incorporated authorization for a number of new projects in the Lower Colorado River Basin, protection of existing main stream projects and provisions for a study by the Secretary of all possible sources of water for importation to the Colorado River Basin. That bill was not acted upon by the Senate Committee, but S. 1658, the Central Arizona Project bill, was reported out, modified to incorporate several features of Secretary Udall's regional plan, plus some other changes. This bill offered protection to existing projects in California only for a period ofEpson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 24 bit, 1,536,540 byte