President Sez, Continued 



est use. To further eoiphaslze the Impcrtance 

 of the Job that districts have to do I vould 

 like to quote froo NACD's Tuesday letter of 

 December 10, 1968: "As District officials, 

 we stand on the threshold of a new conserva- 

 tion and agricultural era, so I ask the ques- 

 tion - Who, better than the Districts thru 

 their supervisors, has an understanding of 

 this vital balance of nature and the biolog- 

 ical processed we speak of? Who, better than 

 the Districts, can mobilize all forces in the 

 upstream watersheds to meet the needs of poll- 

 ution abatement? Who, better than the Dis- 

 tricts, understands the relationships of soil, 

 water, and health to the natural biological 

 chealcal reactions which are constantly at 

 work? And again I ask, who, better than the 

 Districts, can meet the challenges and pro- 

 vide the necessary leadership for water 

 pollution abatement in the small watersheds?" 



The above words were spoken by Dr. Daniel 

 Hale of West Virginia at the annual meeting 

 of the South Carolina Association of Soil 

 and Water Conservation Districts. 



Bearing the aforementioned statements in 

 mind, I pledge to districts the untiring 

 efforts of your officers, executive coanittee, 

 board of directors, conmittee chairmen, and 

 the Ladies Auxiliary in order that we mlRht 

 achieve the ultimate goal. 



I would like to use the rest of this art- 

 icle AS a means to Inform districts of the 

 progress the Association is making on resol- 

 utions adopted at Sidney. The Executive 

 Committee has met three times since our con- 

 vention and wish to report that the bill 

 amending our present law will be printed in 

 its final form December 19. Other resolutions 

 have been by-passed in order that we may con- 

 centrate on legislation. 



Several Districts have reported on their 

 meetings with their state legislators and have 

 had favorable comments concerning the pro- 

 posed amendments. It is my hope that all 

 supervisors will keep in touch with local 

 legislators and continue to solicit their 

 support. 



Governor-Elect Anderson's artlcl*. Continued 



/ 



must maintain Its rights to present and to- 

 ture use of all Its waters. 



We must come to an agreeacnt that conser- 

 vation is an elastic term - that proper bal- 

 ance between actual use of resources aai 

 setting it aside for its later use aust be 

 achieved." 



Governor-Elect Forrest Auderson will 

 succeed Tim Babcock as Governor of Montana 

 in January, 1969. The State Soil Conserva- 

 tion Comittee and Soil and Water Conserva- 

 tion Districts pledge their cooperation and 

 wishes for a successful administration. 



ART CHRISTENSEN, CHAIRMAN 

 PUBLIC LANDS & WATER RESOURCES COHM. 



WATER CODE 



The consideration of a new water code 

 will probably be one of the hottest issues 

 in our next Legislature. 



The Montana Legislative Council, along 

 with the House Interim Connlttee on Water 

 Law, has worked long and hard in drawing up 

 a proposed administrative water code. This 

 act would place the regulation and adninis- 

 tration of water and water rights under the 

 Jurisdiction of the Montana Water Resources 

 Board. 



May I take this opportunity to wish each 

 and all of you a very Merry Christmas and 

 a Happy New Year I 



Proponents of this legislation contend 

 that present laws are cumbersome and not 

 adequate if Montana is to make full bene- 

 ficial use of its water. At present Dis- 

 trict courts have jurisdiction of that <* t 



