Letter Concerning Proposed Construction of Dams

Letter: From Peterson, to Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Ulmer, July 1965, (carbon copy), page 1UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF RECLAMATION WASHINGTON 25, D. C. IN REPLY REFER TO: 707 Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Ulmer 70 Halkin Lane Berkeley, California 94Z08 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Ulmer: We have been asked to respond to your letters of June 22 to President Johnson and Secretary Udall concerning the proposed construction of dams on the Colorado River in Arizona. As you may be aware, the Bureau of the Budget, while giving general approval to legislation to implement the Lower Colorado River Basin Project, also recommended that the dam at Bridge Canyon not be authorized at this time pending further evaluation of scenic values and power resources involved. A copy of the Bureau of the Budget's report to Congress which includes this recommendation is enclosed. There are also enclosed a subsequent departmental release and a summary statement, which you may find helpful in understanding the complexities of necessary river development and protection of natural scenic environment. We are sure you appreciate the difficult position of the Department of the Interior in this matter. The Department has the duty to conserve and protect outstanding natural and scenic features of the Nation but is also charged with the responsibility for developing the water resources of the arid States. In particular, the Congress and the Supreme Court have placed upon the Secretary of the Interior the difficult burden of solving the critical water shortage problems of the driest and fastest growing area of the United States, the Pacific Southwest. From personal observation and contact, we can assure you that the Secretary's decision to include Bridge Canyon and Marble Canyon Dams in the Pacific Southwest Water Plan was arrived at only after painstaking examination of all possible alternatives. He had before him the views of all interested agencies of the Department, including the completely candid concerns of the National Park Service. But the data available at that time showed that the proposed program for the Pacific Southwest would be economically feasible (and therefore acceptable to the Congress) only if supported by the power revenues made possible by the hydroelectricEpson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 24 bit, 3,462,594 byte