| OCR Text |
Show ordinated growth of these rail and highway systems, the Rio Grande Basin needs some readjustment in the transportation field. If more industry is to develop, the means of transporting industrial prod- ucts to large urban markets on a competitive basis is necessary. This will require readjustment of present freight rates and regulations and improved transportation facilities. Rate of Development The rate at which an over-all program of water resources should proceed depends largely upon the region's basic economic needs, future defense re- quirements, and availability of funds for carrying out the program consonant with the basin's part in the national water resources program. Where major engineering structures are needed immediately, watershed treatment should be ac- celerated to increase the useful life of these struc- tures. Any plan, however, should be sufficiently flexible to meet changing conditions. Construction of water resources works has been accomplished by local, private, and State agencies. The Federal Government has constructed projects in the basin for irrigation and flood control and has initiated construction on key water use structures and appurtenant facilities. These constitute the existing base from which planning for future construction can proceed. Other water resources programs should be in- augurated as rapidly as possible to meet the most pressing immediate needs. These will consist pri- marily of watershed management in critical areas where serious deterioration is in evidence, flood protection where the flood hazard is severe and in- adequately provided for, rehabilitation of damaged or destroyed irrigation facilities, and preservation of fish and wildlife. All these should be planned within the framework of a program for ultimate water resources development. The major elements of water resources programs already completed are for the most part devoted to irrigation, although in most cases partial flood con- trol and other collateral and incidental benefits also result. Works now completed which will have sig- nificant bearing on the ultimate program for the region inclxide the following. Present Works A. Upper Rio Grande Sub-Basin 1. Facilities in San Luis Valley, Colo., for 644,000 acres of land, developed by individuals and organized irrigation districts. 2. Facilities scattered throughout northern New Mexico for about 90,000 acres of irrigated land, developed by individuals, cooperative enterprises, Indian pueblos, and a few organized irrigation districts. 3. Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District reclamation works completed in 1935, consisting of El Vado Dam on the upper Rio Chama, 190 miles of levees along the Rio Grande, and irrigation and drainage facilities to serve some 120,000 acres of land marginal to the river. These works are in need of extensive rehabilitation. 4. Elephant Butte Dam and Reservoir, com- pleted in 1916 by the Bureau of Reclamation, for irrigation of 155,000 acres of land in New Mexico and Texas. Hydroelectric generating facilities of 24,300 kilowatts completed in 1949. 5. Caballo Dam, completed in 1938 by the Bureau of Reclamation for flood control and re- regulation of power releases from Elephant Butte Dam. 6. Canalization of Rio Grande from Caballo Dam to Fort Quitman, Tex., by the International Boundary and Water Commission for flood control and other purposes. B. Lower Rio Grande Sub-basin: 1. Facilities in the lower Rio Grande sub-basin developed for irrigation chiefly by individuals and organized irrigation districts. C. Pecos River: 1. Bureau of Reclamation works operated by the Carlsbad Irrigation District, New Mexico, at Alamogordo, McMillan, and Avalon, and irriga- tion and drainage facilities to serve 25,000 acres of land in the Pecos Valley. Initiated by a pri- vately owned irrigation company, the project was later taken over to become one of the earliest under the Reclamation Law, soon after its enactment. 2. Red Bluff Water Power Control District, Tex., works consisting of the Red Bluff Dam and Reser- voir, completed as a Public Works Administration project in 1936, and irrigation and drainage facili- ties for about 32,000 acres of land. Hydroelectric facilities for 2,300 kilowatts are included. 348 |
