It was one of the most important and successful meet ings ever convened to discuss western development

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 2 TO 30 INCHES @ ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 30 TO 80 INCHES •

U. S. Weather Bureau

DEDICATED TO THE TASK OF PROVIDllfG ADEQUATE WATER FOR A PROFITABLE AND DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE IN WESTERN AMERICA-THE CREATION OF NEW HOMES-THE STABILIZATION OF DROUGHT AREAS. THIS WILL MAKE AMERICA STRONG I

VOL. VII no. ¹ 1119 NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING. WASHINGTON, D. C. Noyember 13, 1942

Tm: DENVI~R CONVENTION -

The 1942 meeting of this Association at Denver, attended by nearly five hundred deleEates from every nook and cranny of the seventeen reclamation states, is now history. It was one of the most important and successful meet ings ever convened to discuss western development.

Twenty resolutions approved by the delegates outline a forward-looking program that will challenGe the ability of all political and business leaders of the West to translate into accomplishment.

Two special ~ction committees were authorized. One is to arouse western and national leaders to action in behalf of preserving the integrity of state water laws thrOUGhout the nation acainst federal encroachment. The oth~r is to strive toward more uniform water codes amonG tho westerr. states. Each has a Herculean task.

The matter of next year's meetinf; was left with the Executive Cor:rrnittee.

Copies of the Resoluti0l:1s are enclosed with this bulletin.

PERSOIJTEL OF NEH COl11'UTTEBS

Co~mittee On More Uniform state Water Codes

In compliance with Resolution No. 13, President Warden has named the follow- ing com.®. ttee :

Wells A. Hutchins, Chairman, Soil Conservation Service, U.S.D.A.,

Berkel~y, California

Don C. McBride, Oklahoma Planning & Resources Board, Okla.homa City, Oklahoma.

William E. Welsh, Watermaster, Boise, Idaho

A. \,J. McHendrie, Attorney, Pueblo, Colorado

Fred Buck, Montana 'dater Conservation Board., Helena, 1'1ontana Committee On State Water Laws

In compliance with Resolution No.9, President Warden has named the follow- ing cornrni ttee :

Clifford H. stone, Chairman, Colorado Water Conservation Doar~ Denve~ Colo.

Gus P. Backman, Chamber of Commerce, &<1.1 t Lake City, Utah A. E. Chandler, ConsultinG Engi:Geer, San Francisco, California Wardner G. Scott, state Encineer, Lincoln, nebraska

Georce T. Cochran, Attorney, La Gral~de, Oregon

OFFICERS

O. S. WARDEN. PRESIDENT ORA BUNDY. FIRST VICE·PRESIDENT ROBERT W. SAWYER. SECOND VICE·PRESIDENT J. A. FORD. TREASURER

F. O. HAGlE. SECRETARY·MANAGER

HUGO B. FARMER. YUMA. ARIZONA J. R. FAUVER. EXETER. CALIFORNIA CLIFFORD H. STONE, DENVER. COLORADO N. V. SHARP, FILER, IDAHO

E. PORTER AHRENS. SCANDIA. KANSAS O. S. WARDEN. GREAT FALLS. MONTANA

DIRECTORS

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

ROBERT W. SAWYER. BEND. OREGON W. D. BUCHHOLZ, NEWELL. SOUTH DAKOTA R. E. BASKIN. SEYMOUR. TEXAS ORA BUNDY. OGDEN. UTAH J. A. FORD, SPOKANE. WASHINGTON

PERRY W. JENKINS. CORA. WYOMING

Bulletin no. 1 - 2 November 13, 1942

By action of the Board of Directors the details of handling all Individual Contributing Memberships in the Association was delegated to the offi'CeOfthe Sec~tary-tnnager, while all the details of handling the Individual SustaininG Memberships and Organization Memberships was delegated to-the Director of the res- p6"Ct-iveStates compri-sing the Ass·oclation.

All members please note and cooperate accordingly.

WAR PRODUCTION BOARD ISSUES STOP ORDER ON ALL HON-NILITARY CONSTRUCTIOn

During the last week of October the War Production Board issued stop orders against federal and private non-war construction throughout the country reported cost- ing approximately twenty billion dollars. A Facilities Review Committee of seven men was set up to pass upon any appeals which micht be made.

Newspa.per accounts said that the WPB had hoped that by issuing such stop orders against twenty billion dollars worth of non-military construction, and compelling each proj ect to go throuGh the Facilities Review Cormnittee wrint;er, the WPB miGht be able to definitely stop construction on about five billion dollars worth of work and thus divert that amount of manpower, money and materials to more direct war needs.

Later Donald Nelson wrote federal agencies, includine; the Interior Department, orderinG that construction be stopped on October 28 on all Interior Department con- struction projects, incl udinr:; federal reclar;1ation, except the following which would be allowed to continue, and for which high priority ratings would be issued.

1. Four units on the Parker PONeI' Plant.

2. 1'wo units on the Boulder Power Pla.nt.

3. Two units on the· Shasta. Power Project and transmission lines to Oroville.

4. The Green M01mtain portion of the Colorado-Big Thompson project.

5. Three units on the Grand Coulee project.

On October 28 the Federal Register carried copies of the stop orders which were served on the builders of the five above-naned projects, and limiting the future con- struction on those projects as above indicated.

On October 30 the Washington Ti~s-Herald carried the following story:

ttICKES SPURNS WPB ORDERS Refuses to Halt Helium Project

"Secretary of Interior Ickes yesterday revealed that he is ignoring an order issued by the War Production Batrd to halt work on helium and power projects, spon- s ored by the Interi or Department.

"The WPB order was issued direct to contractors working on the projects. Ickes said that he told the contractors to ignore the WPB order statinr; .. ilf I had obeyed the order literally, they'd have been closed a week ago.'

nAsked a direct question of what he thought of the order, Ickes said, 'You'd better a sk Elmer Davis' (chie f of the OWl). The Secretary he ld t ha t the he lium and power projects were 'essential to the prosecution of the war.'

Bulletin No. 1 - 3 November 13, 1942

"Ickes explained that as far as he was concerned work would go on on the projects until ~.fPB has recons idered the order.

nAn Interior Department spokesman revealed that one of the projects cut by the order is a power line from Grand Coulee to Spokane, Hash., to supply an aluminum plant.

nA spokesman said the WPB was allowing construction of the aluminum plant to continue while stoppinr.; construction of the power line.

U'We were not consulted on these closings,' Ickes continued, 'and we haven't closed the plants yet.' ^tl

At the same time Mr. Abe Fortas, Under Secretary of the Interior, advised this office that Secretary Ickes had decided to appeal from the stop order decision and had instructed all Bureau heads to prepare information and arguments for such an appeal to the Facilities Review Committee of~the War Production Board. Commissioner Page advised that he was preparing to make the best possible case for each project now under construction. He expected to be called before the Committee about Friday, November 13.

\-1hen asked whether or not project sponsors would be permitted to appear before the Committee in behalf of a project, Chairman Farrell said no hard-and-fa.st rule had been made, but he sugGested that any appeal on the part of a project sponsor should be sent to the Committee in the form of a letter.

The above story was conveyed to all officers, cO:mr1ittees, and project sponsors within the Association, and to all western senators and congressmen in a special bulletin on October 31.

On November 3 the :National Reclamation Association, over the signa.ture of the President and Secretary-Manager, in a three-page letter to the Facilit ies Review Committee of the WPB, set forth a picture of what contribution to the war food and fiber requirements could be Iaade if certain irriEati'Jn projects now nearinG comple- tion could be allovved to move to completion and get into immediate production.

The letter, was accompanied by copies of Hesolutions Nos. 2, 12 and 14, passed at Denver, as well as by a copy of Mr. John W. Haw's Denver address which was mailed recently to each of our members through the courtesy of Senator Carl Hayden of

Arizona.

Personnel of the Facilities Review COl1l1'littee of the WPB is as follows:

Colonel T. F. Farrell, Chair~n

Donald Uthas, Vice Chairman Captain W. H. Smith, u. ^{S. Nav\)}

Colonel R. H. Tatlow, U. S. Army Alfred Rheinstein, Civilian Supply

John n. Franl:lin, t1ari tine Commis sion GeorEe o. Scarfe, War Production Beard.

Respectfully submitted, F. o. F...ag ie,

Secretary-ManaGer