Pulling the Plug

The Governors of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico were madder than wet hens, and all over a dry lake. The object of their ire was Interior Secretary Stuart Udall, whom they accused of stealing their hydroelectric water supply and using it to feed power plants in California and Udall's native Arizona.

The Governors are Colorado's John Love, Utah's George Clyde and Wyoming's Clifford Hansen, all Republicans, and New Mexico's Jack Campbell, a Democrat. They had cause for anger.

For years Western states have battled tempestuously over rights to the Colorado River's precious water. Now the Upper Basin states had a brand-new source of hydroelectric power, the $400 million Glen Canyon Dam near the Utah-Arizona border. Operation was scheduled to begin in June. But that had to be postponed, chiefly because the water level in Lake Powell behind the dam was insufficient to turn the generators. Members of the four-state Upper Basin Commission performed figurative rain dances, hoping that by August the lake would have accumulated the 6.5 million acre-feet of water necessary to produce power.

"Perfidy." Now enter Udall's Reclamation Commissioner Floyd E. Dominy, who looked downriver toward Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, major power source for the Lower Basin states of Arizona and California. Lake Mead, too, was suffering from a water shortage. After studying the stream flow forecasts, Dominy last month decided that Hoover Dam could not maintain the surface storage of 14.5 million acre-feet that it needs to do its job.

On Dominy's recommendation, Udall ordered Glen Canyon's gates opened. That was like pulling the plug on one bathtub and letting the water drain into another (see map). In this case, the Glen Canyon water flowed, at 18,000 cu. ft. per sec., 370 miles downriver to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. The water is still running, which is fine for the folks in Phoenix and Los Angeles. But the water loss to the Upper Basin is drying up Lake Powell, and with it the hopes there for new electric power in the near future.

In Denver last week, the Upper Colorado River Commission met with Dominy to demand that he put the plug back in Lake Powell. Chief spokesman was gruff old (80) Edwin Carl Johnson, Colorado's longtime Senator (1937-55) and Governor (1933-37; 1955-57), now a member of the commission. Johnson accused Udall of "perfidy" and "stupidity," quizzed Dominy for more than an hour, charged that the release of Glen Canyon's water was a breach of contract with the Upper Basin states and a waste of water as well, predicted that "given several dry years, the Upper Basin would not have a drop of water left."

Responsible People. Just as doggedly, Dominy rejected the accusations. Said he: "The actions taken on the river were based on facts and are for the best interests of all concerned. We are convinced they are not arbitrary. In our judgment our decision was the only one responsible people could make." Dominy's--and Udall's--position was that the "Law of the River" permits them to draw on Lake Powell's water when Hoover Dam's supply runs short. In the end, Dominy assured the commission that his agency would consider arranging with private power companies to make up for Hoover's deficiencies, in which case the gates could be closed again at Glen Canyon.

Meanwhile, the plug will stay pulled, until next month at least, when Udall will study the newest spring water runoff figures. If he decides that Hoover still needs additional power, and if private groups cannot take on the job, the Upper Basin gates will stay open and Glen Canyon will go down the drain.

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