OCR Text |
Show Conclusions The choice here presented is between a situation in which duly constituted local or State agencies, which presumably represent a majority of the peo- ple under their particular jurisdictions, have a maximum share in planning, programing, and op- erating water conservation facilities, and a situa- tion in which they have a lesser share, depending on Federal initiative and activity. The place of private interests in development is considered in the following section. If State and local participation is small, the course of future action, no matter how well-inten- tioned and otherwise efficient, is likely to be beset by local objections, needless delays, danger of project selection on nontechnical bases, and greater expense to the Federal Government than otherwise would be the case. The size of State organizations, the scope of State activities in the water programs, the extent of past locally organized developments, and the intrastate character of nearly all problems point toward the desirability of maximum State and local participation. However, in encouraging and recognizing such participation, care should be taken that the broad public interest rather than the spe- cial interest is protected and that financial invest- ment is commensurate with participation. Specifically, State and local participation might include: (a) A larger voice in drafting basin-wide plans for control and use of waters and other resources, perhaps by means of formal unified coordination procedures among all local, State, and Federal agencies involved. (b) Recommendations as to the relative need for specific projects and their rate of development. (c) Recommendations as to the manner of operating projects, particularly as regards water use and regulation. (d) Operation and maintenance, wherever prac- ticable, of strictly local flood control, irrigation, domestic and industrial water supply, drainage, fish and wildlife, and recreation facilities. (e) Construction, financing, and operation of projects which conform to a comprehensive plan. (f) Payment for all or parts of Federal improve- Report of Secretary of Interior Entitled Comprehensive Plan for Water Resources Development, Central Valley Basin, California, April 1946, 343 pp. See also, S. Doc. 113, 81st Cong., 1st sess. Central Valley Basin, August 1949, pp. 291-431. ments which result in substantial and determinable local benefits. 2. The Place of Private Citizens and Organizations in Water Resources Control and Development The Problem Participation of private enterprise in the future control and development of water resources. The Situation Extensive present use is made of the water re- sources of the Central Valley Basin for irrigation, municipal water supply, power, and other purposes. Existing works have been constructed by private groups and local public agencies, although there are important Federal projects, like Shasta, Kes- wick, and Friant Dams, and the Delta-Mendota Canal. Power has been an important field of con- struction by private groups. In a number of in- stances power has been provided in connection with irrigation as a joint or cooperative undertaking be- tween private and local public agencies. Future irrigation requires construction of large engineeering works such as reservoirs, extensive canal systems, and pumping facilities. Because of the size, scope, and multiple-purpose character of many projects, and to provide a comprehensive program, Federal participation is believed to be desirable. In many instances there is general agree- ment as to the responsible agency, but in a number of cases conflicts of interest as between public and private responsibility either have appeared or are likely to appear. Most of the conflicts concern hydroelectric power sites. Approximately 80 percent of the present hydro- electric capacity in the basin is owned and operated by private utilities. They supply more than 95 percent of the area load. The existing utility plants are ordinarily on headwater tributaries using high heads, and with little storage capacity. With the completion of Federal plans calling for multiple- purpose reservoirs on principal tributaries near the foothill line, additional headwater power projects could be constructed, with little effect on down- stream improvements for other purposes. Large multiple-purpose reservoirs at the edge of the foothills would provide sufficient storage to im- pound upstream power discharges for irrigation and other uses downstream. Private utilities are devel- oping certain headwater power sites and are con- templating the use of others. Such sites are par- ticularly valuable for peak-load use because of the 111 |