Statement of Senator Barry Goldwater Before Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee

Abstract

Document: Statement of Senator Barry Goldwater Before Subcommittee on Irrigation & Reclamation, Senate Interior & Insular Committee, April 23, 1964, page 1Statement of Senator Barry Goldwater Before Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee April 23, 1964 First, I want to thank the Chairman and the members of this Subcommittee for permitting me the privilege of sitting as a participant during these hearings. This is a courtesy that I deeply appreciate because of the vital interest of my state in the legislation before us. I would like to request that before this record is closed, within the next few days, I would be able to file, with Senator Hayden, a more complete statement which would deal point by point with some of the issues raised during the past two weeks of hearings. However, prior to that, I think it can be said that what we are seeking to develop is some sort of a workable regional water plan which will satisfy the needs of the lower basin states. I recognize many of the problems which California faces, but I recognize also that we have the decision of the Supreme Court of the Arizona v. California case behind us and that we must work forward to implement this decree. For this reason, and I speak for myself, I would not be opposed to a regional plan which establishes a lower basin account, provided such a proposal embodies the Central Arizona Project as set forth in S. 1658, as first priority, and provided further that such a regional plan is not used as a vehicle to delay the construction of the Central Arizona Project. I cannot, of course, commit myself to the details of such a regional plan at this point, but I believe that the hearings so far have shown that it is entirely possible for a reasonable plan to be developed. Because of the natural limitations of the Colorado River, I think it is evident that eventually we must look to a solution to a broad Western plan or an expanded concept of a combination of Canadian and American water to meet the needs of the entire West.Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 24 bit, 1,351,890 byte