Pacific Southwest Water Plan - Proposed Draft Letter of Transmittal

Document: Pacific Southwest Water Plan- Proposed Draft Letter of Transmittal- Secretary to the President, December 1963, page 5at an early date a statement of the extent of your present studies and an outline for a coordinated, comprehensive pattern under which, in your Department's understanding and view, the Southwest's water and power needs might be satisfactorily provided for." During the succeeding nine months the Department of the Interior, through intensive effort, developed the broad outlines of a comprehensive plan. In so doing it became abundantly clear that any regional water resources plan for the Pacific Southwest must be based on much more than the physical and economic considerations of water supply. It must accommodate, as well, the many historic and institutional patterns that have evolved over past decades. First and foremost a regional plan must recognize and respect the "Law of the River." The Upper Basin States must be assured, for instance, that no regional plan for the Pacific Southwest will, in any way, deprive them of Colorado Basin water apportioned to them by the Colorado River Compact. The rights of the individual States likewise must be respected and the aspirations of the States accommodated to the greatest extent practical. Even within individual States the rights and aspirations of geographic areas must be taken fully into account. The plan must recognize the structure of water rights law in each affected States and the basic rights of the several Indian tribes. Existing water contracts and agreements, entered into in good faith, cannot summarily be set aside even if to do so would provide a more economic method of developing new water supply. The plan must conform to Congressionally directed Federal 5Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 2,659,954 byte