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Show Letter to Editor First Things First Under the misnomer termed 'The Law of Eminent Domain" which in reality means "The Natural Law of Survival', one of the main natural resources, water has been used in the following order of priorities: (1) Culinary, for drinking, medical, cooking, household, and domestic needs. (2) Municiapl, for sewers, fire-fighting, sanitation, and for public institutions. (3) Irrigation, farming, ranching, and for gardens, parks, wildlife both flora and fauna. (4) industrial, including production of energy. A few weeks ago, a very dangerous and abortive doctrine was advanced by State Engineer Dee Hansen in a paper presented to the American Society of Civil Engineers which stated in part: "That portion of the (Utah) water originally committed to agriculture might better be reassigned to energy development." (and since that statement was made the Utah Water Resources Board has been holding regional meetings in support of that absurd proposition) An industrialist who was manager of a beet-sugar factory here in the Grat Basin once said f 'Water is the Life Blood ot the West" and some of you people who helped to 'pioneer' this region remember what it took to 'grub the sagebrush' and remove stumps and rocks; to dig canals and ditches 'the hard way' and to overcome many other hardships in 'the winning of the west.' There is an abundance of fresh water in the upper Missouri and Columbia River basins that could and should be imported into the dry areas. It is 'in the record' that "fresh water is Canada's most exportable commodity." II. M. Hart Panguitch. |