New Colorado River Bill Introduced in Senate

              4 Los Angeles Times 9 
Part I-TUES., FEB. 9, 1965 
 
New Colorado River Bill Introduced in Senate 
 
California-Arizona Coalition Expected to Sponsor Legislation in House Today 
 
BY DON IRWIN 
Times Staff Writer 
 
WASHINGTON-Massive support for compromise legislation to develop the Lower Colorado River Basin took shape Monday in the California and Arizona congressional delegations. But influential Sen. Carl Hayden (D-Ariz.) took no active part. 
 
The bill worked out by leaders from both states in collaboration with the Interior Department was introduced in the Senate Monday by California's two Republican senators, Thomas H. Kuchel and George Murphy. Sen. Paul Fannin (R-Ariz.) is expected to co-sponsor the measure upon his return today from Arizona. 
 
In the House, a bipartisan coalition of 31 of the 38 congressmen from California and all three members from Arizona is expected to introduce companion bills today. 
 
Two Invitations 
 
Notably missing from the sponsors' list was Hayden, dean of the Senate. He appeared to be standing firm on his promise to support the compromise "reluctantly"- when and if he is satisfied with authorizing legislation first passed by the House. 
 
Hayden was invited to cosponsor the compromise first by Kuchel as the bill was introduced, then by the Californians who expect to offer it today. In a joint letter they asked Hayden's aid in expediting support for the measure from the White House and the Budget Bureau and voiced hope that he would join Kuchel and Murphy in offering it. 
 
Hayden's reply to the Californians avoided any reference to the Senate bill. Instead, he said he was "glad" the House members were agreed on "introduction and prompt passage by the House of a compromise bill which would bring an end to the Colorado River controversy." 
 
He promised to support the bill before the House Interior Committee and voiced hope that the present session of Congress will bring enactment both of the Colorado bill and of one authorizing the Auburn-Folsom Project for the Central Valley. 
 
Time Undetermined 
 
Hayden's stand makes it probable that the bill will receive its first processing by the House Interior Committee, headed by Rep. Wayne N. Aspinall (D-Colo.). The House chairman, whose home-state interests are in the upper Colorado rather than in its lower basin, has indicated he would schedule hearings for the bill if it has substantial backing from both states. 
 
There is no present decision as to when such hearings can be fitted into the committee's heavy schedule. 
 
The bill's supporters had hoped that Hayden would ease his stand and throw his great influence in the Senate and in its Interior Committee behind the measure at this stage. With his support, the Kuchel-Murphy bill probably would clear the Senate well before House action is completed. 
 
Hayden made it clear when he announced his position Feb. 1 that he is determined to make certain that the compromise which is the core of the bill is unchanged in the House. 
 
Under that compromise, the bill authorizes the long-stymied Central Arizona Project, which would eventually bring 1.2 million acre feet of Colorado water yearly into arid parts of Hayden's home state. 
 
At the same time, it protects California's present entitlement to at least 4.4 million acre feet a year of water from the river until completion of works to import a yearly minimum of 2.5 million acre feet of water from unspecified sources into the Colorado. 
 
Study of Alternatives 
 
The measure directs the Interior Department to study alternative sources and report back within three years. 
 
Kuchel proposed the initial form of the compromise early in January. The governors and senators from both states agreed to the principles of the present bill at a closed conference on Jan. 21. Originally, Arizona's partisans insisted on ending the California guarantee after 25 years, and Californians sought to have it made permanent. 
 
The compromise bill backed by both state administrations will be introduced in the House by 10 of 15 Republicans and 21 of 23 Democrats in the California delegation. 
 
The seven who failed to go along are Northern Californians whose districts are faced with unrelated water problems, mostly involving flood control.