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Show are not now important in the basin. Laws and practices with regard to relative priorities of various types of uses are not inhibitive to the mineral indus- try. The present policies of Federal agencies charged with the water resources development of the basin adequately provide for the recovery of minerals when affected by developments such as reservoirs. However, pollution by milling and other mining wastes are of particular local signifi- cance and require legal and policing provisions for control. Such provisions should be conscientiously maintained in the interest of full water use. Competition for water between large mining de- velopments (such as for possible oil shale reduc- tion) and irrigation is a definite possibility in the future basin. In view of the present legal prior- ities and the mining industries' intermittent na- ture, care should be taken in basin planning to assure the best balanced over-all use of water from a long-term point of view. 3. Conflict Between Irrigation and Power Development The Problem The possibility of conflict between irrigation and power in regulating the waters of the basin. The Situation The Colorado River Compact placed priorities of water use in the following order: domestic, agri- cultural, and power.29 Evaporation from reservoir surfaces dissipates large amounts of water. Reservoirs are necessary to equalize the river flow for irrigation use, as be- tween seasons and as between years, but reservoirs beyond those necessary to regulate the water for irrigation would evaporate water that otherwise might be available for crop production. Plans for power development therefore must take into con- sideration the probable life of the project in terms of this conflict and the possibility of developing the available head by engineering devices like tun- nels where possible. Because of evaporation alone there would seem to be a limitation on the number of reservoirs that can be parts of the ultimate plan. Conclusions Plans for power development on the main stem 1 Colorado River Compact, art. IV (a). of the Colorado should consider (1) the probable loss of water by evaporation from reservoir surfaces; and (2) the resulting effect on future irrigation, as stipulated in the terms of the Colorado River Compact. 4. Public Lands Policies The Problem Public land policies of the several administra- tive agencies as related to water, including pay- ments in lieu of taxes. The Situation Federal lands.-After more than a century of sale and gift of the public lands, the Federal Gov- ernment now finds itself possessed of the remnants of its once vast public domain. Some of the lands were set aside for a particular purpose, others have found no owner or clearly recognized public use. Our national policy now is to sell only those lands so scattered as to be a nuisance administratively, to keep most of those left, and to buy back from States or private interests certain desirable lands early relinquished for a song. These lands are to be managed in the public interest. Most Fed- eral lands have been grouped into categories for administrative purposes. A high percentage of these lands is in the Colorado Basin. Most Federal lands are administered in accord- ance with policies under which land use is authorized. Although these various basic land acts are sound in their over-all provisions, they originated in different committees of Congress at different periods and under different stresses and conditions. This situation has brought about di- versities in management of the same kind of land, and has helped to confuse the public by dissimi- lar regulations and divergent approaches to land problems. In one way or another, this situation affects water resources. Land management.-Basic legislation merely establishes a general framework under which Fed- eral lands are administered. Because details of management are not spelled out in authorizing acts, interpretations of them become the responsi- bility of the affected agencies. Some of these inter- pretations are based upon legislative history as evidenced in congressional hearings, debates on the floor of Congress and other related material. Some are based upon interpretations which are different 407 |