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An Old Refrain

Document: Arizona Republic, Jan. 17, 1965Arizona Republic Jan, 17, 1965 
 
An Old Refrain 
 
Interior Secretary Stewart Udall was back in Phoenix this week to address-at his own request-a joint session of the Arizona Legislature. The burden of his remarks was: "We may be closer than anyone dreams to bringing the water of the Colorado River into the central valleys of our state." 
 
That should certainly have a familiar ring to regular readers of the public prints. Stew spoke to the Phoenix Press Club in December and predicted that an important development was about to break in Arizona's fight for Colorado River water. Now, a month later, he's again shouting the good news for the benefit of Arizona audiences. The habit seems to run in the family. Last August his brother, Rep. Morris Udall, said he expected a major break in "a few short months." 
 
So far, of course, nothing has happened. Except that California says it won't object to the Central Arizona Project if Arizona agrees in advance to absorb any shortage in the current Supreme Court allotments. "Guarantee us our share of the river in perpetuity, while you reduce your own allocation if the river flow is reduced, and we'll vote for the Central Arizona Project." Some offer! 
 
We don't blame Stew Udall for hoping there will be a break soon on the Colorado River problem. Everyone in Arizona hopes there will be. But Stew has an added load to carry. He was largely responsible for blocking the Central Arizona Project as a single project, insisting that it be put into a grandiose Pacific Southwest Water Plan with all the revenues from Arizona dams going into a basin account that would help California as much as Arizona. 
 
Nor do we blame Stew for speaking before Arizona audiences whenever he gets a chance. His heart is set on a seat in the U.S. Senate, and some day he'll make the race. The more politicking now the better. But we are getting a little tired of hearing that some big water development is just around the corner. We'd like to see the development as a fact, instead of seeing it through the secretary's politically misted crystal ball.Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 24 bit, 1,127,709 byte

An Old Refrain

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