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Show APPENDIX VI VI 51 46 colorado river storage project Arizona Power Authority, Phoenix, Ariz., AvgvstS, 1961. Hon. Caul Hayden, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. My Dear Senator Hayden: Thank you for your letters of July 13 asking for our comments on Secretary Udnll's proposed criteria for operation of Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell during the fdling period. You asked for those comments by July 25, but by telephone we were assured by Mr. Elston that August 7 was an acceptable alternative date. To give you a complete documented response to the criteria would require a report, not a letter. Moreover, Arizona, Nevada, and California have a common interest in those criteria, and we anticipate that the three States will jointly study the criteria, determine areas of agreement and disagreement, and, as lias been the purpose to date, work with the Bureau of Reclamation toward criteria representing reasonable compromise and fairness on the part of all interests. This letter is intended, however, to show you that Arizona cannot afford to acquiesce in the criteria in their current form. Our comments, discussing the separate principles of the criteria in order, are attached. Most of these comments were made by representatives of Hoover allottees during the April 20, 1961, meeting in Los Angeles called by the Bureau of Reclamation. Adequate answers were not provided in most instances. The material furnished you and which you sent on to us leaves many problems unsolved. In our judgment, Secretary Udall's proposals require much discussion, clarification, general tightening, and documentation before the Hoover allottees come to acquiescence in a final product. Arizona, and we think California and Nevada, are very disappointed in the lack of Bureau progress in the solving of this complex problem, and over a possible intent to promulgate these criteria without the Bureau's providing the answers sought in the April 20, 1961, meeting. Nevertheless, Arizona and the other Hoover allottees would be willing, we are sure, to work intensively and objectively with the Bureau to avoid the alternative to a negotiated solution: In all sincerity, we urge that negotiation. The impact of Colorado River storage project operations upon Parker and Davis powerplant operations receives no attention in Secretary Udall's proposals. These plants are important elements in Arizona's economy. Arizona accepts as inevitable a diminution in their output as a result of storage project filling operations. Unless relief is provided, rates must increase. Arizona holds that Parker and Davis are just as distinct from the storage project as though they were under a separate agency of Government, or private enterprises, and that the Secretary of the Interior has not the discretion to subordinate their payout (at the expense of their customers) to the uncertain rights of another project. Accordingly, we have continually urged the Bureau to recognize the Parker-Davis problem, and will continue to do so. Your recognizing our interest in these matters is appreciated. We assure you, again, of our willingness to work constructively with the Bureau in the development of fair solutions to its problems. Yours very truly, C. A. Calholx, Chairman. |