Cogjm.Rv Wtr Users 1952-12.Pdf (4.994Mb)
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l . COLORADO RIVER WATER USERS ASSOCIATION ' .. 1 • ' • ' --..... .. • • \ MC)(l(.0 \ PROCEEDINGS OF THE NINTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, COLORADO RIVER WATER USERS ASSOCIATION l LAS VEGAS, NEVADA DECEMBER 8 to 9, 1952 l'CI.CPHO,..C MADl•OM G•IGIG EXT. 615 OALLAS E. COLE S-urcRVISING HYOIIAV0..1~ El<OINttR COLORAOO RIVER SOARD ~I:. SOUfH 911:0AOWAY StA·u: OF CAt.•ro,11,, .. 1.05, ANGELes, CALIFORNIA COLORADO RIVER WATER USERS ASSOCIATION PURPOSES OF ASSOCIATION (Reprinted from Secticm S of Constitutwn) This association is organized to protect and safeguard the interests of the users of the Colorado River stream system, to contact State and Federal agencies on matters of material or vital importance to the membership of the association, to formulate and promote passage of legislation for the benefit and welfare of the water users, to study and to advise upon proposed irrigation, power and land development ptoj ects, to plan ways and means of bringing about the construction of approved projects designed to beneficially use the waters of the Colo rado River system, and safeguard State contracts with the Government for water and power upon which the welfare of water users depends. This association shall not be affiliated with any political organization or political party and shall at all times avoid political influence designed to secure advantages for any State or area at the expense of or disadvantage of other States or areas. It shall be understood that the initial organization meeting represented approximately 2,000,000 water users and 77 percent of the total water of the Colorado River system. It shall be a purpose of the association to increase its mem bership to include all water users in the Colorado River Basin. The association shalJ cooperate with State and Federal agencies in ' planning the appropriate development and use of the water resources of the Colorado River Basin with equity towards all users and interests. It shall be the duty of the association to take prompt and vigorous action to protect infringement upon the water rights and resources of the water users by political agencies making pleas of national expediency. The association may cooperate with and support the purposes and objectives of organizations having the approval of the officers and directors, whether they are on a State-wide, regional, or national basis. The association shall avoid, as far as possible, being influenced by State or Federal agencies on the grounds of expediency, but shall be guided in its work and purposes by the needs of the actual users of the waters of the Colorado River system within the United States. COLORADO RIVER WATER USERS ASSOCIATION PURPOSES OF ASSOCIATION (Reprinted from Section 3 of Constitution) This association is organized to protect and safeguard the interests of the users of the Colorado River stream system, to contact State and Federal agencies on matters of material or vital importance to the membership of the association, to formulate and promote passage of legislation for the benefit and welfare of the water users, to study and to advise upon proposed irrigation, power and land development proj ects, to plan ways and means of bringing about the construction of approved projects designed to beneficially use the waters of the Colo rado River system, and safeguard State contracts with the Government for water and power upon which the welfare of water users depends. This association shall not be affiliated with any political organization or political party and shall at all times avoid political influence de.~igoed to secure advantages for any State or area at the expense of or disadvantage of other States or areas. It shall be understood that the initial organization meeting represented approximately 2,000,000 water users and 77 percent of the total water of the Colorado River system. It shall be a purpose of the association to increase its mem bership to include all water users in the Colorado River Basin. The association shall cooperate with State and Federal agencies in ' planning the appropriate development and use of the water resources of the Colorado River Basin with equity towards all users and interests. It shall be the duty of the association to take prompt and vigorous action to protect infringement upon the water rights and resources of the water users by political agencies making pleas of national expediency. The association may cooperate with and support the purposes and objectives of organizations having the approval of the officers and directors, whether they are on a State-wide, regional, or national basis. The association shall avoid, as far as possible, being inftuenced by State or Federal agencies on the grounds of expediency, but shall be guided in its work and purposes by the needs of the actual users of the waters of the Colorado River system within the United States. The ninth annual conference of the Colorado River Water Users Association was called to order by President A. J . Shaver at the Thunderbird Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada at 9:45 A.M., December 8, 1952. Addresses of welccme were given by the Honorable C. D. Baker, Mayor of Las Vegas, and the Honorable Cliff Jones, Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. The following c0llllll1ttees were appointed by the President: Auditing -- Hampton c. Godbe (Chairman), R. J, McMullin, and Leo A, Snow Resolutions Arvin B, Shaw, Jr. (Chairman), c. A. Anderson, and AJ.fied Merritt Smith Nominating Victor r. Corbell, Hugh A. Shamberger, and Fisher Harris Addresses delivered at the conference are summarized herewith: *********** RECENT AC':I'IVITIES OF DEPARrMENT OF AGRICULTURE Warren T. },furphy - Field Representative The Department of Agriculture plays a vital role in many fields of interest to users of the waters of the Colorado River. Concerned with the cropland phases are the Soil Conservation Service, the Production and Marketing Administration, the Agricultural Extension Service, the Farmers Heme Adminis tration, the Agricultural Research Administration, the state Agricultural Experiment stations and the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. The U.S. Forest Service and the cooperating State Forestry Departments are pre-eminent ·in the field of protecting, managing and conducting research relating to the wild watershed lands of the Pacific Southwest. Under the Soi l Conservation Service, a cooperative drainage study has been under way about one year near Grand Junction, Colorado to determine the possibility of reclaiming lands that have deteriorated or gone out of produc tion due to water logging and the accumulation of salts. The possibility of reducing the upward pressure of water into tight soils from underground aquifers by means of wells is being studied, The SCS is also undertaking studies of water shed yield and sediment production from grasslands in Arizona and New Mexico. This year, the summary of soil and water research needs in the irrigated West developed by the National Reclamation Association Committees on Research was released as Senate Document 98, providing in one place a,review of our most urgent research needs. Research units of the USDA assisted NRA in surveying needs and developing the program presented, -1- USDA agencies have collaborated with other Federal and State groups in seeking economically feasible means of controlling salt cedar. Early this year an overall program embracing all USDA agency needs to carry on an effective research program was presented to our budget officials. USDA and the Bureau of Reclamation have collaborated to include with in the 1954 budget estimates of the Bureau of Reclamation funds for a more effective soil and water research program on irrigated lands. At the U.S. Salinity Laboratory, a major 1952 project bas been complete revision and bringing up to date of the 1947 Manual on Salinity and Alkali Soil Diagnosis and Treatment. At Brawley, California, the new Southwestern Irriga tion Research Station of the BPISAE added to its staff this year and is getting research under way. The U.S. Forest Service is going ahead with long-term studies aimed at determining the effects of forest harvesting and management on water yield and sediment production on headwaters of the Colorado River near Fraser. Work with small plots indicates that water yield can be increased 15 percent by proper forest cutting methods. The small plot work is being extended to a whole watershed. At the Sierra Ancha Station in Arizona on the upper Salt River watershed, the Workman Creek Unit is ready for initial timber cutting operations. The flow from this area has been carefully studied over a period of years in its natural state. The effect of timber cutting on water yield and sediment production will now be measured. The Department was given Congressional authority to prepare a coordi nated long-range program of agricultural resource development in the Colorado Basin to complement engineering development plans proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation. The authorization was not accompanied by allocation of funds, however, so it has been impossible to inaugurate the program. A special project to restore flood damaged farm and ranch lands in Utah was authorized under Public Law 371 approved by the President June 4, 1952. The Soil Conservation Service and the Production and Marketing Administration are handling the work. Approximately 2-1/4 million dollars bas been granted for the repair of damage in Utah by 1952 floods, largely to irrigation facilities . Upstream flood prevention survey work by the Forest Service and the SCS has been substantially reduced this year in the Pacific Southwest. Con gressional action r educed the funds available by nearly $271,000 or 70 percent below the amount available last year. The SCS continues to develop conservation farm plans in cooperation with local State-organized Soil Conservation Districts, and is providing technical supervision of permanent works installed under the PMA program.