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Show ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF WATER DEVELOPMENT 105 eral obligation the District must make plans for the disposition of its water supply so that there may be realized from it the ultimate of social and economic values and reduce as far as may be the burden of its cost to the inhabitants of the area under its jurisdiction. Outline of General Principles Offered as Basis of Discussion During the early part of 1940 the District's Board of Directors ordered their Engineer and Attorney to express in writing their ideas of the principles by which the Board, in their judgment, ought to be guided. They responded with the following, not, however, as dogmatic conclusions but rather as a basis of discussion and deliberation. Occasion of Difficulty " If your fundamental object has been merely to make good the deficiencies which occur from time to time in present supplies, or if it had been possible to acquire a water supply progressively as required, or if the population of the District could be expected to be doubled or even very substantially increased by the time of the completion of the Provo River Project, then this problem would not loom so large. But none of these conditions obtained, or will, and it must therefore be anticipated that your water supply will accrue to you at a time when comparatively little of it will be required for use within the present area of the District. Various Possibilities Stated and Discussed " This fact gives rise to several possibilities, which we shall state and comment upon: "( A)- It can be ignored, and the District's water supply of 46,000 acre feet annually can be wasted or left to be utilized by whomever may desire it, and its entire cost and the entire expense of the District's share of the operation and maintenance of the Provo Association and the entire cost and expense of the aqueduct can be borne by the taxpayers until such time, whenever that may be, as it can be utilized within the District. " This possibility, quite obviously, it seems to us, is no more than theoretical, for by such action the water right itself might be jeopardized. Then also, no one can predict with any assurance of accuracy the length of time during which such a policy of non- action would have to be continued, and in the meantime, even it not irretrievably lost, an invaluable community asset would be wasted. In the meantime also, taxpayers of the District would be called upon each year to pay substantially a quarter of a million dollars from which they would realize no direct or indirect benefit. " That such a policy should be seriously considered, or if seriously considered would be tolerated, is scarcely conceivable, especially in view of the public assurances given to the taxpayers on every occasion that participation in the Project has been submitted to them, that every reasonable effort would be made to realize from the water supply itself the cost of its acquisition. "( B)- Your water can be utilized by lease outside the present area of the District, but only at such places and for such purposes that as a practical matter, as distinguished from a matter of strict legal right, the use can surely be discontinued in favor of uses within the District and City limits. |