Agriculturally the basin has advanced to the limit of its controlled water supply with only about 1.7 percent of its total area, or 2,676,000 acres, under irrigation. Of this irrigated area 1,325,000 acres are in the upper basin and slightly more, 1,351,000 acres, are in the lower basin. Millions of acres of dry fertile lands yet are idle and most irrigated areas are not producing maximum yields because of water shortages, while at the same time flood waters still uncontrolled flow destructively to the Pacific Ocean and are lost for beneficial use. Control of these waters will require cooperative planning and systematic development involving construction of huge structures, mostly beyond the financial range of private enterprise.

Much of the vast range can never be irrigated but its sparse vegetation will always be a major base of the basin's economy. Over-grazing and unseasonal use of the range are preventing optimum utilization of range land and are causing destructive floods and wasteful erosion of top soil. The production of more hay and other forage on irrigated land for pen and winter feeding will permit maximum utilization of the range, protect livestock against severe winters, permit expansion of dairying and livestock operations, and, in general, increase and stabilize the livestock industry. More people thus could obtain a prosperous livelihood from the industry, and the Nation would be rewarded with more beef and mutton, hides, wool, and dairy products.

Lack of sufficient water is responsible for crop failures and low yields. In areas where cash crops are grown, increased and dependable water supplies will make possible higher yields on lands now irrigated, prevent crop failures, make possible an increase in the cropped acreage and permit farmers to diversify and intensify farming operations. The products of these farms-peaches, apples, citrus fruits, summer and winter vegetables, seeds, sorghums, and other crops-will be readily absorbed in the American market. As a result farm income will be increased and farmers will enjoy security, stability, greater prosperity, and a higher standard of living.

Many farms in the basin are too small for efficient operation. This condition has resulted mainly from subdividing holdings through inheritance, and from the purchase of tracts too small for economic units. An increase in the irrigated acreage will make possible larger farm units and thus reduce the number of part-time farmers in the upper basin forced to seek supplemental employment away from the farms and the number of subsistence farms in the lower basin.

At present there is not enough irrigated land to provide agricultural opportunities to those in the basin who would like to farm. Of the 39,145 farms in the basin, 20,677 are in the upper basin and 18,468 are in the lower basin. The irrigation of desert lands will provide many new farms for servicemen, industrial workers, and others who wish to establish themselves in the basin. Consequently fewer young people will be forced to migrate elsewhere, and to some degree the temporary population influx into the lower basin and southern California areas during the war period will be absorbed permanently into the economic structure of the basin.

Development of vast mineral resources of the Colorado River Basin is awaiting low-cost power. In mineral wealth-coal, oil, oil shale, natural gas, copper, gold, silver, phosphate, magnesium and numerous others—the basin is unsurpassed. The need for these buried treasures is growing. Power necessary for additional mineral development can be supplied by the construction of multiple-purpose dams that will serve irrigation and other beneficial uses.

Need for improvement in domestic water facilities is becoming pressing in some areas and additional water supplies are needed also for expansion of many existing industries and the development of new industries.

Lack of transportation facilities, particularly in the upper basin, is hampering the livestock industry. With the expansion of agriculture and other industries in the basin, transportation facilities will be extended to serve areas now remote and isolated.

It is apparent that full control and utilization of the water of the Colorado River system is necessary for additional and continual growth in the basin. It will bring greater prosperity to people living within the basin and provide opportunities for others who are yet to come. Living conditions will be bettered, a broader tax base will be established, and at the same time, the need for public expenditures for relief of unemployment will diminish. A greater population in the basin will bring a solution of many of the economic and social problems now resulting from extremely sparse settlement.

It is well established in this day when goods and services are freely interchanged among the many parts of the Nation and the world, that prosperity cannot be isolated. Prosperity in the Colorado River Basin brought by full development of water and land resources will have a stimulating beneficial effect on the economy of the entire country.