CONTENTS Letter from the Department of the Army to the Commissioner of Reclama- Letter from the Assistant Secretary of the Interior to the Speaker of the Statement of the President, press release of March 20, 1954- Letter from the Bureau of the Budget to the Secretary of the Interior, Letter from Assistant Secretary of the Interior Aandahl to the Bureau of Letter from the Secretary of the Interior to the President, March 19, 1954- Letter from the California Director of Public Works to the Secretary of the Page Letter from the executive secretary, water and power board, and com- missioner of interstate streams, Utah, to the Secretary of the Interior, COLORADO RIVER STORAGE PROJECT AND PARTICIPATING PROJECTS [Press release of March 20, 1954] THE WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT I have today approved recommendations for the development of the upper Colorado River Basin. The general plan upon which these recommendations are based has been prepared by the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary's recommendations have been reviewed by the Bureau of the Budget. Legislation embodying the administration's recommendations is being prepared for introduction in the Congress. This is a comprehensive, well-planned development of a river basin. The close Federal-State cooperation upon which the Secretary's plan is based also carries out this administration's approach to waterresource development. The development will conserve water, enabling the region to increase supplies for municipal uses, industrial development, and irrigation. It will develop much-needed electric power. The development calls for sound financing. The legislation now being drafted will set up a fund for the entire project so that it will be constructed and paid for as a basin program. Construction of the Echo Park and Glen Canyon Dams, two of the large projects in the basin plan, is recommended. These dams are key units strategically located to provide the necessary storage of water to make the plan work at its maximum efficiency. The legislation being drafted will authorize a number of projects which will put to use the waters of the upper Colorado. This authorization will become effective following further consideration by the Secretary of the Interior, with the assistance of the Secretary of Agriculture, of the relation of these projects to the wise use and sound development of the basin. I am deferring my recommendation on the Shiprock unit of the Navaho project until the Secretary has completed his study. I hope the Congress will give early consideration to enactment of the administration's legislative proposal. I firmly believe development of the upper Colorado River Basin, in accordance with its provisions, is in the national interest. 1 LEITER OF MARCH 18, 1954, FROM THE BUREAU OF THE BUDGET EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington 25, D. C., March 18, 1954. The honorable the SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: This is in response to your letters of December 10 to the President and to the Bureau of the Budget, submitting your supplemental report on the Colorado River storage project and participating projects. Further development of the upper Colorado River Basin in general accordance with the recommendations contained in your supplemental report has the support of the President. Legislation for that purpose which would authorize economically justified developments would be in accord with his program. With respect to the supplemental report, you are advised as follows: 1. The basinwide planning and close Federal-State cooperation which underlie your report carry out this administration's approach to water resource development. 2. Subject to the requirements of paragraphs 8 and 9 below, authorization of the Glen Canyon and Echo Park units of the storage project would be in accord with the program of the President. These units are strategically located to provide replacement storage to meet the upper basin's commitment to the lower basin and to permit increased consumptive use of water in the upper basin. In addition, both units will generate substantial amounts of hydroelectric power. 3. Authorization of recreational facilities to be constructed by the National Park Service within the Dinosaur National Monument would be in accord with the program of the President. Appropriations for this purpose should be so authorized that they can be made directly to the Park Service. 4. A requirement that conservancy districts be established to assist in irrigation repayments would be in accord with the program of the President and should be met before any participating project is undertaken. 5. Authorization to make the surplus power revenues of the storage projects available for repayment of construction costs of the Eden project and of the previously authorized portion of the Paonia project would be without objection. 6. Provisional authorization of the Shiprock unit of the Navaho project would not be in accord with the program of the President at this time. This advice is without prejudice to further consideration of the project when a report is completed indicating its economic justification, the views of the affected States and agencies, and the relation of the project to other potential uses of water of the San Juan River. 7. Subject to the requirements of paragraphs 8 and 9 below, a conditional authorization for construction of the other participating projects recommended in your report, including the Minnesota unit of the Paonia project, would be in accord with the program of the President. The authorization would become effective following a new finding of favorable economic justification by the Secretary of the Interior after individual project reports have been prepared which |