Water in the West 



John R. Lassen 



President of the Salt River Project 

 Phoenix, Arizona 



W„ 



ill Rogers was absolutely right wtien hie advised 

 young people to buy land, "because ttie good Lord's 

 not making any more of it." 



But he might have added, "Be sure that it has a 

 good water supply because land without water is 

 useless " 



Rain is scarce in the 17 western states, which com- 

 prise 50 percent of the U.S. land mass. These states 

 receive only 19 percent of the national precipitation. 



In my area, the average rainfall is about seven 

 inches a year That's rather paltry compared to 38.9 

 inches of annual precipitation for Washington, D.C: 40 

 inches for New York City: 42.5 inches for Boston; and 

 34.4 inches for Chicago. 



So it's no surprise that many of the major cities in 

 the West are connected to some kind of reclamation 

 project or reservoir system. And many of those that 

 aren't connected are making plans to do so. 



Consequently, "supply" issues took pnority in a 

 recent poll of western water experts.' The top ten 

 issues according to the respondents were drought, 

 ground water depletion, ground water contamination, 

 competition among water users, surface water con- 

 tamination, soil contamination, flooding, water rights 

 conflicts, decaying distribution and treatment systems, 

 and degradation of coastal and wetlands areas. 



I am certain that water issues will become the focus 

 of national attention in the 1980s and 1990s in the 

 same way that energy issues held the spotlight in the 

 1970s. 



There are three main reasons for this, and they are 



interrelated. First, there is the increased migration of 

 people to the West from the East and the ancillary 

 "Snowbelt versus Sunbelt" reaction among some 

 members of Congress, Second, in these difficult eco- 

 nomic times, there is likely to be decreased federal 

 funding for reclamation projects. Third, competition 

 will increase among water users for both existing and 

 future supplies 



Regarding migration, it's true that people are con- 

 tinuing to move to the West from the East. This is a 

 process that has been occurnng since the days of the 

 Pilgrims The West always has been the "national 

 safety valve," a place for those who are down on 

 their luck or those who are looking for greater 

 opportunity. 



Trying to stop this migration from East to West is 

 both futile and not in the national interest. 



It's futile because decisions to move are individual 

 or household decisions The choices are not based 

 on whether or not a strip mine is allowed to open or 

 whether or not a reclamation project has been 

 approved by Congress. 



I think many people tend to move first and find jobs 

 afterward And in the West, jobs are available 



Secondly, "Snowbelt" Congressional moves 

 directed at "keeping the other guy down" by voting 

 against reclamation projects are self-defeating on a 

 local and national level Ultimately, this affects prices 

 for things that all consumers need, such as beef, 

 bread, lettuce and other produce, dairy products, oil, 

 gas and coal. 



1. "The Future of Water and the Bureau of Reclamation," by J F Coates, Inc , Washington, DC 



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