The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-07-21

of every section of the United States
 Motives underlying this fight are deep and difficult to fathom.
 While it would be natural to think that any opposition to the develop ment of more TWAS would come from the old private electric power utilities lobby, connection between the power lobby and the water lob- by and the water lobby does not appear on the surface.
 F. O. Hagie, secretary-manager Of the National Reclamation Associa- tion, one of the five organizations whose Washington representatives make up the Co-ordinating Com- mittee of the unofficial and unnam- ed water lobby, has simple ex- planation for it's existence.
 He says the 31 organizations are simply fighting against a change in the American form of government. Hagie contends that dividing the United States into nine regional authorities of three men each, as proposed by Mississippi Congress man John Rankin's bill, would give these 27 men more political power than all the 48 governors and state legislatures and the federal govern ment too. He is against that.
 But the issue may not be that simple, either. For a better insight of what's behind this fight you have to appreciate what water is and what it does to keep the United States going concern.
 INVALUABLE WATER
 RIGHTS AT STAKE
 To the farmer water is necessary food for livestock and crops. It is nursed in irrigation, fought in soil erosion. It is drainage. It is barge navigation in rivers and canals. In flood time it must be controlled. Be- hind dams it generates electric power. It is the life blood of com merce. All the trade associations de- pending on water therefore have stake in this idea of river valley development.
 In almost all of the United States west of Omaha, water rights for ir- rigation are more valuable than land rights. This is hard for most customers to understand but It is so. More people have been killed in the west over water rights than for cattle and sheep rustling or high way robbery.
 The disposition of billions of dol- lars worth of lush pork barrer' congressional appropriations is at stake in contracts for river and harbor improvement, flood control projects, dam and canal construc- tion, irrigation and reclamation, soil erosion and drainage.
 GOVERNMENT CONTROL
 AN ISSUE
 Control over the government agencies now administering these matters is another factor not to be overlooked in this battle. War De- partment's Corps of Engineers, In- terior's Bureau of Reclamation and public power sales, Federal Power Commission, and the Department of Agriculture today share these responsibilities. While it is now claimed that the conflicts between these agencies were largely resolved by the Flood Control Act of 1914, rivalry still exists.
 These are some of the reasons why the water lobby has been able to bring together such diverse in- terests as the New York State Wa terweys Association, Ohio Valley Improvement Association, Florida Waterways Congress, Texas Water Conservation Association, California Water Council, American Power Boat Association, Propeller Club, American Merchant Marine Insti- ute, Pittsburgh Coal Exchange and 8 score more.
 The Co-ordinating Committee now managing the affairs of the 31 organizations includes, besides F. O. Hagie of the Reclamation Associa- tion; William H. Webb, of the Ma tional Rivers and Harbors Congress; Roy Miller, of the Intracoastal Canal Association of Louisiana and Texs: E. w. Rising of the Water Conservation Conference, and Lach- Ian Macleay of the Missippi Valley Association.