Evening star., 1955-09-30
THE BATTLE FOR WATER
Communities Find
They Lack. Facilities
BY ROGER d. GREENE
AP Newsfeatnre Writer

BY ROGER d. GREENE
AF Newsfeatnre Writer
Fifteen years ago, the resi-
dents Of Grand Rapids. Mich.
complained bitterly ct the ex-I
pense of building a 35-mile-|
long pipeline to bring water tol
the city from Lake Michigan.
Today the city's taxpayers
are grumbling. "Who built that
nne-horse system back in 1940?"l
they ask. aNow we've got to build
one o lot bigger"
Al 48-State survey by the As-l
sociated Press shows the Grand
Rapids episode is typical Of hum
dreds OF American cities and
towns.
Caught in q three-way squeeze
between fast-growing popula-I
tion, booming industry and REL
curing dry spells. countless
communities are suddenly dis-
covering their water facilities
Just won't do the job any longer.
Many are outmoded. Most are
inadequate to cope with peak
demands. During the 1883
drought. for example. only three
States In the entire country
Idaho. Mississippi and Rhode
1sland-reported no water short
age problems.
Inequities. smouldering feudsl
and open conflicts have arisen inI
many areas as water supplies
run low. Laws involving water
rights have become as comph-
Gated and conflicting from State
to State as to constitute q night
marish legal jungle. In the East.
where the old Roman and Eng-l
1ish law Of riparian rights pre-
walls. you can be sued by just
about anybody who thinks your
use Of the water is "unreason-I
able"
In the West, which still clingsI
mostly to the pioneer law of
first come, first served" some
water rights date back to the
gold-rush era.
Just a few months ago. in
Texas, the State Supreme Court
ruled that the city Of Corpus
Christi acted within its rights
when it pumped huge quantities.
Of water from wells near the
town Of PleasAnton and trans
ported it via the Nueces River
more than 100 miles to Corpusl
Christi-even though the Pleas
anton wells suffered from the
city's invasion"
Texas is desperate for new
water supplies. and even Michi-
gan surrounded on three sides by
87,170 square miles of fresh
water. has its tongue hanging out
in many places.
Suburbs Drain Detroit
In the booming Detroit area,
some 30 outlying communities
which have sprung up In the mass
march to the suburbs have been
tapping the city's water supply.
As a result. Detroit has been
forced to install q new 400 mil
hon-gallon pumping station. and
police-enforced water bans have
been clamped down in the area.
Detroit's giant auto industry
is watching the situation with
serious concern. 1t takes Is. 600
gallons of water, mostly for cool
ing hot metals, to produce one
automobile.
In Arizona, ofiicials report
that, unless new water supplies
can be found. SOC. 900 acres now
under cultivation may 90 idle.
The States underground water
table. In some places. has
dropped as much as $50 feet in
10 years-l8 feet in the last IL
months.
California. with q population
Of 1875 million, which is expected
to reach 23.5 million by 1875. is
working feyeriShly to bring in
new supplies but Is pumping
water from ground sources at an
alarming rate. The overdraft Is
estimated at a staggering 1000
billion gallons q year.
Water for the States Z million
irrigated acres Is q big problem,
but California's muShroomingl
cities are also beginning to pant
for water. Two giant aqueducts,
one from Owens Valley in the
Sierra Nevada Mountains to the
north, the other from the Colo
RADIO River on the east, supply
a billion gallons a day to nearly
5 million Southern Californians
In so cities.
Third Aqueduct Possible
But more eventually will be
needed. and the experts are
looking to the day when another
aqueduct will tap some rushing
river in Northern California or
as far away as Oregon.
Colorado, with water shortages
in nearly every section Of the
State, gloomily watches the Colo
RADIO River quench the thirst Of
distant States while Its mile-high
capital. Denver. sweats out .
critical shortage.
Denver predicts its population
viii double TO one million in the
next 10 years, "but we're using
every drop Of water right now"
The city hopes to bolster its
supplies via q 23-mile tunnel
through the Rockies, at q cost
Of $43.6 million.
New Mexico is another State
feeling the scorpion-like sting
of water scarcity. Experts say
the States underground water
table is dropping so fast In the
eastern high plains that sup
plies may be exhausted within
40 years.
Here, in brief. Is rundown on
other shortage areas:
Connecticut---Farmers in the
New Haven area have been
RUNNING so much water from