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Show 208 UPDATING THE HOOVER DAM DOCUMENTS H.6.8 Amendment of H.R. 46 71 On July 5, 1966, during the National Governors Conference, a letter signed by each of the Governors of the seven Basin States was forwarded to the President urging active support of the Colorado River Basin Project by the Administration. The House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee amended H.R.4671 on July 21, 1966, by rewriting the provisions of Title II pertaining to augmentation of the river. In part, this amendment was objectionable to California and others because it weakened the augmentation study provisions by placing the investigation of the Colorado River Basin water shortages and means of augmentation of the Colorado River in the hands of a newly created National Water Commission, rather than by the Secretary; and the end product was to be a reconnaissance report, instead of a feasibility report, necessitating a second act of Congress to authorize a feasibility investigation and report. This was designed to reduce opposition from the Northwest States but it threatened the unity in the seven Basin States and antagonized California. There followed negotiations among the representatives of the Colorado River Basin States which resulted in the substitution of Title II amendment which was satisfactory to and could be supported by California and most of the Basin States. This would permit the National Water Commission to make a preliminary study of inter-Basin diversion possibilities and to continue on a feasibility study if warranted. The new amendment was approved on July 28 and the full House Interior Committee reported H.R.4671, as amended, by a vote of 22 to 10. All the California members of the Committee as well as all the Colorado River Basin Congressmen voted in support of the bill. It was the first time CAP had cleared the full House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (page 12, Arizona Interstate Stream Commission, Twentieth Annual Report, July 1, 1966, to June 30, 1967). Opposition to H.R.4671 On August 19, 1966, Governor Hansen of Wyoming advised the President of withdrawal of Wyoming's support of H.R.4671 on the grounds that the amendments by the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee pertaining to augmentation had eroded the fundamental principles deemed to be essential by the State of Wyoming. The Navajo Indians Tribal Council opposed both dams and advocated use of their coal deposits for pumping power. Conversely, the Central Arizona Indians favored the dams. Of growing concern was the possibility that when the bill reached the floor of the House there would be an effort to introduce substitute amendments which would eliminate the regional aspects of the bill in favor of essentially a Central Arizona Project authorization. By the close of September 1966, it was apparent that the Rules Committee would not grant a rule on H.R.4671 and that the bill was dead. Congressman Wayne N. Aspinall, Chairman of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, and others did not support the granting of a rule because passage would not be assured due to the following reasons: (1) Lack of support by the Administration for the bill as approved by the House Interior Committee; (2) Opposition of the "Preservation" groups to the power dams proposed on the river; (3) Opposition of the Pacific Northwest to the regional study proposals; (4) Evidence of weakening of the seven-State unit; and (5) Opposition of the economy bloc in the House in view of the high cost of the proposed projects. In addition, one of the dangers of bringing the bill to the floor of the House was the possibility that a substitute bill by Congressman Saylor would have been adopted. This bill would have eliminated the major features desired by California and the Upper Basin States; i.e., augmentation, no priority for California, and the two hydroelectric dams. Thus, H.R.4671 was aborted with the end of the 89th Congress. No Senate hearings were held in 1966 (pages 41 through 46, Eighteenth Annual Report of the Upper Colorado River Commission, September 30, 1966). |
