FOOD-FORAGE-FIBER-POWER

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 2 TO 30 INCHES «I

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 30 TO 80 INCHES •

U. S. Weather Bwreau

Every Private and Federal Irrigation District-Every Farm and Business Organization in the West, Should Send at Least One Official Delegate to

the Denver Meetin This Fall.

DEDICATED TO THE TASK OF PROVIDING ADEQUATE WATER FOR A PROFITABLE AND DlVERSIP1ED AGiRICULTURE IN WESTERN AMERI'CA-THE CREATION OF NEW HOMES-THE STABILIZATION OF DROUGHT AREAS. THIS WILL MAKE AMERICA STRONG!

Denver

FOOD-FORAGE-FIBER-POWER

1119 NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING. WASHINGTON. D. C.

EXCIThNGED LETTm{S BETWEEN ASSOCIATION AND SECRETL~Y ICKES REVEALS PART IRRIGATION MAY PLAY IN WAR EFFORT

The following exchange of letters between the Association and Secretary Ickes is reproduced in this bulletin in order that the entire membership of the National Recla- mation Association may be intimately informed of the ef'forts which Secretary Ickes, the Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Reclamation under COlnmissioner Pag~

are making at this time to advance the irrigation-reclamation and water conservation program in order that it may make its full contribution of food, forage and fiber which may be needed in the Nation's war effort.

Respectfully submitted

F. O. Hagie, Secretary-Manager

* * * *

Assocj.ation Asks For Outline Of Department's Program

OFFICERS O. S. WARDEN, PRESIDENT

NATIONAL RECLAMATION ASSOCIATION W.nshihgton, D. C.

Hon. Harold L. Ickes Secretary of the Interior Washington, D. C.

Dear Mr. Secretary:

July

24, 19h2

In light of the ever-changing conditions growing out of this country's part of the United Nations' war effort, and the present trend of the war generally, I am wondering if our Association is right in assuming that the part which the Department's irrigation- reclamation and water conservation program might be able to con- tribute to the war effort during the next two or three years may be reappraised before the

1944

budget requests are prepared.

As you know, the strictly i.r::-igation features of tho program were not emphasized in the

1943

budget, but in several cases they were singled out by the Congress for increased appropriations to expedite their completion. The water conservation e.nd utilization program, under the Wheeler-Case Act, was entirely omitted by the Bureau of the Budget, in spite of the fact that it is the only program available for stabilizing agricultural production in the Great Plains states, and the only program under which scores of

DIRECTORS

HUGO B. FARMER. YUMA. ARIZONA ROBERT W. SAWYER. BEND. OREGON

ORA BUNDY, FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT J. R. FAUVER. EXETER. CALIFORNIA CLIFFORD H. STONE. DENVER. COLORADO N. V. SHARP. FILER. IDAHO

H. D. STRUNK. MC COOK, NEBRASKA A. M. SMITH. CARSON CITY. NEVADA E. W. BOWEN. TUCUMCARI. NEW MEXICO HARRY E. POLK. WILLISTON. NORTH DAKOTA FRANK RAAB. OKLAHOMA CITY. OKLAHOMA

W. D. BUCHHOLZ. NEWELL, SOUTH DAKOTA R. E. BASKIN. SEYMOUR. TEXAS ROBERT W. SAWYER, SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT

J. A. FORD. TREASURER

F. O. HAGlE. SECRETARY-MANAGER E. PORTER AHRENS. SCANDIA. KANSAS O. S. WARDEN. GREAT FALLS. MONTANA

ORA BUNDY. OGDEN. UTAH J. A. FORD. SPOKANE. WASHINGTON

PERRY W. JENKINS, CORA. WYOMING

Bulletin No. 10 - 2 August

15, 1942

small projects throughout the West generally can be undertaken.

S:"nce the abandonment of the CCC program, whioh has heretofore pro- vided a labor subsidy, the water conservation program, it appears, is threatened with complete stoppage unless a direct subsidy for the duration of the emergency, or some other procedure, is made available to carry this program forward.

We would greatly apprecia.te an outline of such program as the Department may have in mind in order that our members may be advis- ed and, therefore, better prepared to assist your Department and this Association in achieving the goal&

S inc er"e ly your s , (S) F.

o.

^Hagie

Secretary-Manager

Secretary Ickes' Reply Outlines In Detail Department's and Bureau's Immediate Program

My dear 1'Ir. Hagie:

THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR Washington

August

12, 1942

Your letter of July 21+ gives me an opportunity to advise you that Commissioner Page is now in the West ~~king a first-hand sur- vey of the cpnstruction program of the Bureau of Reclamation. At my direction, :Mr. Page is securing information in the field as a basis for a reappraisal of the

1943

program for which funds have been appropriated, and recommendations for a construction program for the fiscal year 19~~. These recommendations will place the Department in a position to make irrigation facilities available for the productioil of food, forage, and fiber to aid in the prose-.

cution of the war and contribute to the permanent development of the West.. Mr. Page has also been making a study of the Water Con- srervation and Utilization Program in connection with the stabili- zation of agriculture in the Great Plains states.

Prior to

Mr.

Pagels departure for the West, I told him that it appeared to me that expanded production of food, forage, and fiber is necessary in order to supply the requirements of the United Nations. This necessity for expanded production, together with the urgent desirability of making the western half of the United States self-sufficient sa far as food is concerned, in order to conserve transportation faciliti"gs, requires all aocelerated reclamation pro-

grB.n~o I instructed I\1r. Page to keep these f£'~ctors in mind in making a survey of the

1943

program and in preparing his recommendation for the reclamation program for the fiscal year

1944.

I realize, of course, that the reclamation program must be geared to the over-all demands of the war program for scarce materials such as steel.

Bulletin No.

10 - 3

August

15, 1942

Nevertheless, I am convinced that it is essential that the need for expanding our reclamation construction activities be brought forcefully to the attention of the Congress and of the War Production Board, so that they may give proper weight to this vital phase of the war produc- ti on program .•

In order that I might be prepared to act promptly on Mr. Page's recommendations, I wrote to Secretary of Agriculture Wickard on July 13, emphasizing the concern of the Department of the Interior in the war re- quirements for agricultural products from the irrigated areas of the West. I requested Mr. Hickard, who. is also Chairman of the Food Re- quirements Committee of the War Production Board, to advise me as soon as practicable of forecasts whi.ch the Department of Agriculture can make at this time of the dem~nds for food, forage, and fiber which irrigated land will be expected to meet. I emphasized the importance of this in- formation in planning and executing the irrigation-construction program for the fiscal year

19h3

under appropri&tions already made by the Con- gress, and in setting up estirnates for

1944.

The information is also essential in connection with the proposals of the Farm Security Admin- istration for an expansion of the Water Conservation and Utilization Program.

Since the Secretary of Agriculture is assigned the responsibility of estimating food requirements for the Nation at war, the irrigation- construction program which I will reco~nend to the Bureau of the Budget ane. the Congress will be greatly influenced by the information furnished to :me by the Department of Agriculture. The War Production Board now refers to the Office of Agricultural War Relations, also under Secretary Wic}.card, all applications filed by the Bureau of Reclamation for

priorities for critical materials for irrigation construction.

You state in the second paragraph of your letter that "the strictly irrigation features of the program were not emphasized in the 1943

budget. It I call YO'lr attention to the tabulation on pages

405-6

of the House hearings on the Department of the Interior Appropriation Bill, which shows that the Bureau of Reclamation, with my approval, submitted to the Bureau of the Budget estimates for the continuation of construc- tion of irrj.gation facilities on

16

projects, and proposed the beginning of construction on two major nultiple-purpose projects in which benefits to irri.gation are the major ob,jectives. These were the Kings River ' Project in California and the San Luis Valley Project in Colorado. The House and Senate hearings on the Appropriation Bill show that Commis-

sioner Page submitted outlines of accelerated irrigation-construction prograTIls which the Burea.u of' Reclamation was prepared to prosecute if provided with funds and priorities for critical materials.

Any implication that the Department of the Interior or the Bureau of Reclamation has neglected irrigation is not borne out by the facts.

In th'e ejght years from 1934 to 1941, as Secretary of the Interior, I have recomnlended and approved expenditures by the Bureau of Reclamation for irrigation and multiple-purpose projects, all of which aid

Bulletin No. 10 -

4

August 15, 1942

irrigation, totalling $470,870,846 or an annual average of $58,858,858.

These figures compare with total expenditures during the preceding 31 years of Federal Reclamation of $257,267,974 or an average of $8,298,870 -

one-seventh of the annual average from 1934 to 1941. The expenditures for all multiple-purpose projects will aid irrigation directly or

through power facilities which will reduce the cost of irrigation water to the farmers of the West.

The policy of the Department of the Interior, under my adminis- tration, has been and will continue to be to secure low-cost power and low-cost irrigation water for the arid and semi-arid areas of the West.

The Reclamation program, which I have sponsored, is designed to aohieve these objectives. This program, including the irrigation features and the Water Conservation and Utilization projects, will be advanced as rapidly as appropriations and priorities for critical materials will permit.

Sincerely yours, (S) Harold L. Ickes

l'1r. F. O. Hagie,

National Reclamation Association, 1119 National Press Building,

Washington, D. C.

Secretary of the Interior.