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 8Within the framework of these basic concepts and in recognition of the many constructive suggestions for improvement received, I have revised substantially the plan presented in my proposed report. Proposals for Congressional action, except for planning, are now limited to those related to a proposed Initial Plan. Reference to specific plans or features which may evolve in the long-range future has been eliminated. The Initial Plan, as presented in the attached report of the Commissioner of Reclamation, proposes that the Congress guarantee, as a matter of Federal policy through construction of necessary works, the equivalent of 7.5 million acre-feet of water per year in the Colorado River either directly or through exchange, to satisfy the consumptive uses of 2.8, 4.4, and 0.3 million acre-feet annually in Arizona, California, and Nevada, respectively. The cost to the water users would be no greater than would otherwise have been incurred had there been sufficient water in the river to satisfy the above amounts. To accomplish this basic objective the Initial Plan proposes the establishment of a Pacific Southwest Development Fund, patterned after the Upper Colorado River Development Fund, which would (1) underwrite financially the guarantee of 7.5 million acre-feet in the river, (2) provide financial assistance and protection to areas of origin from which water may be exported to the Pacific Southwest in satisfying the guarantee, (3) provide financial assistance in the repayment costs allocated to irrigation which are beyond the ability of water users to repay, and (4) provide financial assistance for future long-range developments. 8Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 2,750,568 byte