Imperial Valley press., 1930-02-24
DISTRICT
LEADERS
PLEASED
Pound Issues Statement
On Water Agreement
At Los Angeles
ACTION is URG f ID
Meeting Passes Resolu-
ton Making Haste on
Major Projects

Definite settlement II intyr-.a
tio1al disputci regarding Califoruia's
share in COLORADO river t. announced
by Imperial Valley representatives
returning yesterday ftom series Of
conferences in Los Angeles.
Agricultural sections. vino carly
i"9t week agreed to coucodr to the
Mrtrcpolitap Water fieaic, SO 0aa
a"r" feet o. the i13a .6aU allotted 10
this state under terms ~ .Ac Bout
Ger CanycH Project -. made il
Gear te the coastal >eetious that
fo'thcr concessions would defeat the
Al! American canal program, 4
that agriculture must stand firm in
rs dcmrd t.f 1,S5oaaa acrc-tcct.
"Sucecssfn cu'miuati5n Of Ia, con
t'Icnces of southern California
groups lat week is probably one
Of the most Important adyauccs we
have maGe toward actual building
g. the Bou!dcr Dana and the All-
American tanal" President Earl G.
Found Of The Irrigation District,
said this morning.
considering the limitations ON
water WITH which California is
FACED. tic agreement ma le last week
Is ca;ieet fl." e, al iatorpets. Il
Is ba,rd uroa actual minimum needs
and gu1ra1 res .a,h section titic Ia
sufficient mate: La make possible
the financing Of development under
the tnuldrr CANYON Propcct Act."
Resolution Adopted
Tht meeting passed a resolution
outlining 1hc division az water as
follow. Clqse ~" F. agricultural
groups. 3.95J.0oo a.r,fcct ucr an
lum, Metropolitan district 10000
"rrct,et H.s HHwm; ncAt J5Douo
aorc-fcet available for california
use, Netropolitan district $4,000
dcr"-t@et Te~ anaum: 9li water ia
river available for California use
in excess Of She above total Of t.
9@0,0o0 acre feet TO bc given 10 the
agricultural group
The resolution points out the need
ot the Colorado river aqpcdu';. the
A}lAmcrican canal aud Boulder dam
and urges those in authority to cN-
prditc rs aa.h az possible, construc-
ton Of the .brco projects
"Cudcr the pouldcr Dam pct,"
sad Pound, "thc Secretary of In
terror must ,ou'ar, for stored wa
'e' Therefore, not only the Metro
roli'cn District Int all other agcn-
cic, viii soon hc goirg to the sccrc-
tary for contra Is. The cities are
going to build am aqreduat that viii
cost perhaps quarter OF q billion
dollars, It was explained by valley
men today and they are TAP aEMns'
"a serious financing problem, because
OF that they felt tust thcy Wcr" ca-
titled to and must have absolute
title 90 water.
"On the other LAND lmpcr."l ard
Coach,lh Valleys aAd tue o. h crl
SMALLER develo lopm.uts aioag tht river
have established water rigAts with
which we could not permit thc cities
to interfere. l,s Auqclrs flied it,
rupliration with the division Of va
ter rights more ,han two wears Az
agains, which wr iiIcd q protest. In
other words, it had become perfectly
obvious that a long and bitter con
troVrrsv could not lc avoided unless
either the metropolitan area ahan-
Concd their hopes OF going 80 the
Colorado or IN agreement shorld he
reached. The agreement which was
reached fully recognizes the prior
rights of the agricultural interests ,
aud i5 yet not so extreme bat that !
jnc cities can obtain sufficient titlr'
for all practical purposes. I
Agreement Is Fair
"'Th2 water rights Of the Palo ,
Verde valley and Yuma Valley in
amount 20 something be. .
tween 100000 and 3oo,0oo acrc-toet (
Of water per year. Imperial Valley ,
of course has am absolute right to F
the water it is now using and could .
protect It's rights for a reasonable !
extension. Just how far that eXten- /
sion could be protected under the I
AllAmcricau canal is unsettled, bat (
it il thought that 3,jjO,000 arr'-teet /
per annum "A a minimum would not +
be m unfair assumption. The plan /
was to protect those prlor f.
tights by according - agriculture
the first 3,S50,000 acre feet of water,
rhcn give the coastal cities the next /
: 1.l00,00 and then give to agricul- /
ture all Of the balance Of the river.
awe believe the agreement is fair
TO the cities as We believe it is fair !
TO agriculture and fair agreement |
is the only kind worth making,
"lhis agreement, Of course, does
not settle the water situation, bat /
we believe with these agencies going
TO the Secretary of the Interior, the
Division of Water Rights and others
IN authority in absolute harmony rs
to what each should receive, we will
have no further difficulty"