OCR Text |
Show problem areas calls attention to two of the major problems in the Rio Grande Basin. Socially and economically they are "sick areas." Fragmenta- tion of land holdings by inheritance has reduced farm size to uneconomic units. Many farms are too small even for subsistence. Lacking job op- portunities in industry and reluctant to migrate from these communities, the people have come to have little or no purchasing power. Standards of education and health reflect the general poverty. These people also face physical problems which they alone cannot overcome. The pressure of population has forced the extension of water sup- ply to the last acre of land possible to serve with their limited means. This has resulted in many cases in overgrazing, overutilization of timber, and other unwise land use practices. As a con- sequence, the pressure on grazing land has been increased still more, and in these areas flood flows and sediment loads have increased. Large graz- ing areas have been wantonly denuded. The diversion dams of the small community ditches have been destroyed repeatedly by floods and re- quire increasing quantities of labor and materials each time they are replaced. Some land has of necessity been abandoned. In the whole upper basin man's adjustment to the water and land resources is precarious. Sedimentation at the head of Elephant Butte Reservoir greatly increases the consumption of water by nonbeneficial plants. Sedimentation in the valley floor raises the water levels injuriously, handicaps flood-control work, clogs irrigation ditches, and causes serious drainage problems for the adjacent irrigated land. Thus, the problem areas of the basin not only are sick economically but in a physical sense contribute the flows of water and accumulated sediments which impair the health of their own and adjoining areas. Merely increasing crop yields, or, if it were possible, supplying more irri- gation water, will not solve these problems. Tem- porary relief has been afforded from time to time by engineering works, by Government subsidies, and by highi wages and crop prices. Still the deterioration of water supplies, watershed lands, and human resources continues apace. What- ever new measures are undertaken by public agencies in the region must solve three problems if the Rio Grande is to become a permanent as- set to the national economy: Agriculture and rural life must be rehabilitated in the problem areas, a stable adjustment of grazing and irriga- tion to the shifting and inadequate rivers must be developed, and opportunities for employment other than in agriculture must be provided. When water is short it is rationed. It has been short for many years in the Rio Grande. As a consequence the streams of the region are sub- ject to a more exact and comprehensive system of rationing-as embodied in interstate and inter- national treaties-than in most other areas of the United States. Under interstate compacts the waters of the upper Rio Grande are divided among Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, and the waters of the Pecos are divided between New Mexico and Texas. Under treaties of 1906 and 1944 the waters of the lower valley are divided between Mexico and the United States. Within each of the States the claims for both surface and underground waters exceed the supply. Any growth in urban or industrial use of water is at the sacrifice of other uses. Thus, the city of El Paso must acquire water rights and land from neighboring irrigation farmers and turn their land back to desert in order to obtain water for its own use. In this situation a program of water use and development is necessary for stabilizing and im- proving physical conditions, but adjustments of land tenure are required for rehabilitating the economy of the region. The improvement of existing irrigation facilities, the building of some additional storage for flood flows, importation of water from other basins, and drastic steps to pre- vent current water losses would sustain the ex- isting irrigation economies and permit some ex- pansion of acreage. An extensive program of watershed management must be accelerated to prevent further soil loss on the grazing lands. Intensive measures for sediment and flood con- trol are essential to preserving the irrigated lands. These and many related projects including fish and wildlife development are outlined in vol- ume 2. 28 |