Show s i The Bureau of Reclamation said last week that In the 70 years since crop statistics were first compiled western farms irrigated by Reclamation projects have produced food fiber and forage worth nearly 50 billion or more than eight times the total 6 billion invested invested invested in in- vested In facilities facUlties constructed under the Federal Reclamation program p Former Secretary of the Interior Thomas S S. S Kleppe stated Reclamation is one of the best investments ever made by the federal government In addition to its major contribution contribution con conn to the nations nation's food production these water projects bring other benefits in inthe inthe inthe the form of polluting non-polluting hydroelectric hydroelectric hydro hydro- hydroelectric electric power recreation water for domestic and industrial industrial industrial in in- uses flood control and habitat for fish and wildlife And nearly 84 percent of the dollars spent for these facilities is reimbursable to the Federal Treasury by direct beneficiaries of the projects At the end of 1975 facilities in operation on Federal Reclamation projects included storage reservoirs diversion dams miles of canals miles of pipelines miles of tunnels miles of laterals miles of project drains pumping plants 58 53 power plants and circuit miles of transmission transmission transmission tran tran- lines Obtaining the necessary budgetary finances and picking practical sites for reclamation projects were considered the main difficulties in the early years of reclamation Then came inflation This made the projects much more expensive and prolonged their completion Next came the realization that the salinity of water reaching the Mexico border was increasing This was attributed in part to many river storage projects holding large bodies of water resulting in large evaporation A more recent problem troubling the Bureau of Re Reclamation is structure failures This was brought to the forefront by the Teton dam disaster With the threat of possible failures great pains will be taken in future projects to insure safety This will also increase costs This year the Bureau of Reclamation will be faced with still another problem This Thus one may turn out to be even more serious than the previous ones With the water supply outlook in inthe inthe the west for spring and summer runoff at record lows due to lack of snow in our mountains the operation of our reclamation projects may be curtailed For the first time in the 30 to 40 year history of moisture measurement snow courses on some of our mountains are bare Other areas have only 10 to 20 percent of the average fall Our existing reclamation projects may prove to be the saving life-saving devices that will get getus getus getus us by during periods of drought But they are designed to save water during times of high runoff runoff runoff run run- off so it can be released when needed in the dry summer period When greater amounts of moisture fall during the th winter reclamation projects are able to function at top ef ef- ef- ef When moisture is minimal mal the projects cannot do their ultimate job A good moisture supply is necessary to sustain not only our reclamation projects but also the growth of almost everything else Our cities and towns as well as our farms cannot grow unless they have an adequate water supply Industrial growth cannot come cometo cometo cometo to an area without a water source Most things cannot function well without water Our record low moisture readings are beginning to take lake on serious meaning Instead of being an almost free and greatly wasted resource our water supplies could very well become our most valued possession We are fortunate indeed to be situated in an area that has been blessed with an overabundance of water reclamation projects These projects proved their worth soon after they were built and their value will still increase even though there may be a critical water shortage We hope to watch the continued continued con con- development of reclamation projects and ultimately see the completion of projects ts on the drawing board such as Uintah Upalco Ute Indian White WhiteRiver WhiteRiver WhiteRiver River and others not yet in the planning stages |