WATER RESOURCES 193 
Allocation of Water Supplies 
Man’s domestic requirements inevitably will be satisfied first 
and finally, up to the point at which consumption of all available 
water sets a limit on expansion of a community. (This is the situ- 
ation numerous American cities are approaching today, in the east 
as well as in ane west.) 
In assessing “‘wise allocation” for types of use other than do- 
mestic, more latitude in judgment and planning exists. For exam- 
ple, irrigation may be criticized as an extravagant use of water. 
Nevertheless, the construction of irrigation works that are efh- 
ciently planned and soundly financed is justified by the increase 
in food and fiber which this kind of agriculture produces. 
One major justification for irrigation is the contribution it makes 
to the wealth of the nation. Besides the farm families themselves, 
whole communities derive their support from irrigated agriculture. 
For each individual living on a farm, there are two more individ- 
uals in a nearby community whose support is directly or indi- 
rectly due to irrigated agriculture. 
The dramatic examples of the new farms and of one-to-two 
ratio are in America’s scattered “last frontier.’’ This frontier is a 
source of inspiration to those who visit the plateau above the 
Columbia River, the previously empty desert lying between Phoe- 
nix and the Colorado River, or the prairies and benchlands in the 
Missouri Basin receiving irrigation water for the first time. 
To measure in dollars part of the value of irrigated agriculture, 
I mention that the value of crops irrigated on 69 Bureau of 
Reclamation projects was $786,000,000 during 1953 and 
$935 ,000,000 1n 1952. Income of such dimensions came from about 
6 million acres, or only about one-fourth of the land in the United 
States which is irrigated through various organizations. 
The same storage structures which make irrigation possible in 
many instances bring about other important benefits. The power 
that helps to finance the irrigation also contributes to the eco- 
nomic base of the west, and the flood control features prevent 
destruction of wealth. 
Incidentally, the total of values, over and above the direct 
