Secretary Udall Supports Authorization

Document: United States Department of the Interior news release, "Secretary Udall supports authorization of comprehensive project package to meet long-range water needs of the lower Colorado River Basin," May 19, 1965, page 3Secretary Udall expressed his confidence that the means of augmenting the Colorado's flows can be accomplished within the approximately 25 years remaining before diversions for the Central Arizona Unit will have an impact on existing uses within the basic 7.5 million acre-feet apportioned by the Supreme Court in Arizona v. California. Another basic change recommended by the Bureau of the Budget deals with a commitment in the legislation that water imported into the Lower Colorado River to augment the supplies otherwise available in order to provide for 7.5 million acre-feet annually for consumptive uses in the three lower basin States (Arizona, California, and Nevada) would not cost users more than the cost of water naturally available in the river. The Budget Bureau report recommeded that if the Congress concludes that the legislation should contain such a guarantee, it should be limited to the cost of providing 1.5 million acre-feet of imported water annually--the amount of water the United States is obligated to deliver to Mexico under the 1944 Colorado River water treaty. This would make minimal the chances that any imported water would carry a price tag higher than mainstream water naturally in the basin, at least through the year 2030. Satisfaction of the Mexican water treaty, Secretary Udall's report states, can quite reasonably be treated as a National and not a regional or sectional obligation, because the Colorado's long-time average flow is two million acre-feet less than was assumed when the treaty was negotiated. The proposed legislation, as recommended by Secretary Udall and the Bureau of the Budget, would establish a Lower Colorado River Basin development fund to provide a source of financial assistance for the future work to be undertaken. Revenues would accrue to the fund from the proposed Marble Canyon powerplant, and from the existing Hoover and Parker-Davis powerplants after those Federal projects have met their existing financial obligations. Through the operation of the development fund, project revenues would assure repayment of all reimbursable costs of the units and programs in the Lower Colorado River Basin Project, which amount to more than 90 percent of all project costs. The legislation, as recommended, would also authorize construction of the following units as components of the Lower Colorado River Basin Project: --The Mainstream Reservoir Unit, consisting of Marble Canyon Dam, reservoir, and powerplant, and a silt detention reservoir on Paria Creek. Authorization of Bridge Canyon Dam, as proposed in the Pacific Southwest Water Plan, is proposed to be deferred pending further study. Secretary Udall said he anticipated that the study would involve a further evaluation of the need for the power this project could provide, its impact on the development fund and on the scenic and recreational values of the area. Both Secretary Udall and the Budget Bureau proposed that the legislation include a moratorium on Federal Power Commission authority to consider non-Federal development of Bridge Canyon pending a final decision on Federal authorization. 3Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 2,345,761 byte