NEARLY FIFTY YEARS AGO, during an era in which political figures were not pathetic HALL MONITORS but still statesmen whose careers were dedicated to the development of American civilization, and the advancement of her population, and securing her destiny into the future, TWO GREAT GOVERNORS of two great western States -- California and Oregon -- engaged in correspondence over the most prudent and effective means of developing the potential of the American West through securing a stable water supply for drinking water, agriculture and recreation... GOV. RONALD REAGAN and GOV.TOM MCACALL talked water ... Their consensus was that an effective plan required securing a stable source of fresh water from north of the Canadian border -- in ALASKA -- using the program engineered by the Parsons Co. of Los Angeles. The time had come -- in 1967 -- to begin to plan for future generations who sould be born -- in the 1990's....

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GOV. TOM McCALL to GOV. RONALD REAGAN:

 1967 
NAWAPA NOW:
An OPEN LETTER to OREGON GOV. JOHN KITZHABER; SEN. JEFF
MERKELY; SEN. RON WYDEN, and OREGON REPRESENTATIVES

SHOWN: Memo from Jeff Westerdahl, II, Executive Secretary to Oregon Gov. Tom McCall dated
February 6, 1967, reading “Parsons Engineering; NAWAPA Plan; -- Final letter; Check with Wanda”
“RECONTACT FOR APPOINTMENT”

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DEAR OREGON ELECTED OFFICIALS:
Greetings:
WITHIN BUT A FEW HOURS spent in the Oregon State Archives in Salem last week, ca. January 2-4, 2013,
concentrating on the Administrative Records of Oregon Governor Tom McCall -R (‘67-75), I was able to unearth
indications that our direct political forebears, of noble memory, had investigated for our State, an advanced series of
LONG-LOST PLANS for the FUTURE OF OREGON and for the NATION, dealing with effective water-
management. The year was …. 1967.
There, hidden in a stream of the Gov. McCall’s long-forgotten Administrative Correspondence, for 1967 – the first
year of his first term -- and continuing into 1969 and thereafter -- I found detailed, comprehensive plans indicating a
future-directed, long-range program for guaranteeing an abundant WATER SUPPLY to the State of OREGON – but
also, in an unusual display of a broader species of civic-minded imagination that I can only describe as…
PATRIOTISM,
.. this same program seemed also to be designed for the mutual benefit of neighboring states, and even the entire
Western and Central Region of the United States, including the arid Great Basin, the southwest, down to Texas, – and
thus, potentially, to the ENTIRE UNION – reminding me, in a moment, of the state flag of Oregon, and the motto:
THE UNION.
I was almost as surprised as you may be, to be reminded of this broader vision for our State: that is, as a people
dedicated to The UNION, by our pioneer forebears. That we should see ourselves in Oregon, foremost, as part of The
UNION, and -- not only that -- but as citizens having a special mission directed thereto – seemed to stir my very being.
AND – this water plan investigated and endorsed by Gov. McCall, was so broad in scope, so far-sighted in its vision
down the decades, that it required a shift in my perspective about my own PRESENT MOMENT in time. For it appeared
that Gov. McCall -- a short-term elected official -- was looking beyond the period of his own elective term, and was
peering into the annals of time to our own day: considering a vast undertaking that would heavily burden his immediate
constituents, in an exercise of dedication to “generations yet unborn:” giving them the opportunity of serving the
NATION AT LARGE, and benefitting not only themselves, but FUTURE GENERATIONS, throughout The UNION.
After the fashion in which we ourselves, in OREGON, have been benefitted and blessed by the development and
improvement plans of our forebears – for instance, by such large scale FEDERAL development plans as Lincoln’s
program for the construction of transcontinental railroads to the
western states – which benefitted Oregon and Oregon manufacturers,
farmers and ranchers, who had been theretofore so comparatively
isolated, and served by virtually only a single solitary seaport access to
national markets – viz., though shipping out of the mouth of the
Columbia river… and usually to such an intermediate seaport as San
Francisco (California). Once completed, these rail connections
provided effective, cheap transportation for Oregon goods, which were
then provided to a waiting, almost an insatiable market, across these
United States. This was a transportation revolution which made
Oregon’s aggressive producers, men who knew how to work -- like
the ranchers and farmers of Polk County -- rich beyond their dreams
Such abundance of foresight, as Lincoln manifested, soon made for an
abundance of resources in the present – here in Oregon. And of
course, there was always PLENTY OF WATER : for instance, as
here, for this July 4th,
1923 RODEO in Dallas (Oregon).
 “PLENTY OF WATER” An afterthought, on this poster.

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PLENTY OF WATER, but ....
WATER and WATER SUPPLY was still little more than an afterthought in the minds of most Oregonians, even
during the Great Depression: but it was not so in the mind of a truly foresighted President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who
anticipated a need, long before the need had manifested, and -- as a key element of his plan to pull the United States out
of the Great Depression -- authorized, regional development projects: works of a new and unprecedented scope –
Monumental projects, largely for the transfer, storage and distribution of water. Plenty of water …
Canal Construction
In the Pacific Northwest, the Columbia River Basin
Project was authorized and went under construction. Far,
far more than just a make-work project, this program -- for
the construction of over 40 dams along the length of the
Columbia River, and associated electrical power
generation facilities, irrigation canals, and canal and lock
systems for shipping -- worked synergistically with the
needs of the community, to generate in this region, an
entirely new and elevated economic platform – marked
by, and dedicated to, not only the generation and
transmission of low-cost, highly reliable electrical power
for the benefit of all -- manufactories and citizens -- but
also providing abundant and controlled water supplies for
agricultural purposes, for flood control, and for recreation.
This new economic platform also demanding a
widespread advance – a leap forward -- in the level of
skills and technical competence of the men -- and now
women -- who had to be employed for the effective and
safe operation of the intricate mechanisms …. Permanently.
The availability of such cheap, reliable, long-term access to
electrical power brought to the region manufacturers whose
technologies required just such steady delivery – such as ALCOA,
whose plants along the Columbia numbered 10 smelters, and
employed 11,000 workmen at one time: turning out high-grade
varieties of aluminum alloys, demanded – in particular – by the
budding aircraft industry. This in turn encouraged the location of
manufacturers such as Boeing into Washington State, and resulted
in the proliferation of high–tech machine shops and job shops
throughout the region, with a heavy concentration of them in
Portland and environs -- where skilled and dedicated labor was
plentiful – and the riverways and rail linkages provided easy
access to transportation & shipping. Portland is NOW still a
major manufacturing center on the West Coast, precisely because
of the kick-start given the region, through President Roosevelt’s
initiatives, on Columbia River Basin project. In short, our modern
prosperity in Oregon,was triggered and has been maintained, by
the development of this large-scale economic platform,
envisioned by President Roosevelt.
Where did such foresighted, long-range planning vanish to?
Construction method, Long-Lake dam, O’Sullivan

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President Kennedy -- Sen. Frank E. Moss (Utah) -- and NAWAPA
This OPEN LETTER is not the context within which to treat the larger subject of the outspoken and official support,
and on-the-ground advocacy, and the future-oriented vision, of no less a figure than President John F. Kennedy, who,
during his administration, in 1962 and 1963, campaigned at length and tirelessly, throughout the arid states of the West, to
promote advanced development programs for water collection & distribution. Material on this aspect of Pres. Kennedy’s
otherwise unknown, strong political leadership for large-scale Western water projects, has been recovered and is best
represented by the LaRouchePAC team of researchers, and is available for viewing in their short trailer on “NAWAPA
in the 1960’s” found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHQSxWsz11c -- as well as in a detailed, full-length
historical treatment of the patriotic, scientific, engineering & political enthusiasm that was surging behind the
NAWAPA program, during the 1960’s, available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j35loVuccQ .
Viewing this later video is a virtual imperative to understanding the history of “the rise and fall” of the NAWAPA
program, during the tumultuous so-called “cultural revolution” of the 1960’s in America. As this video highlights, the
NAWAPA program was not shelved, as a consequence of any intelligent arguments brought to bear against it, or active
political resistance – but rather because of a lack of political will, borne of the radical apathy that overtook the county,
with the advent of the “68’ers, and the demoralization of the populace, brought on by the Viet Nam war …
Sen. Frank E. Moss of Utah, was another 1960’s advocate for such large-scale, regional water-development projects.
Not incidentally, Moss was also in frequent contact with Gov. McCall, as can be seen in the Governor’s Administrative
Correspondence, at the Oregon State Archives. An introductory treatment of Gov. Tom McCall’s interest in NAWAPA
appears in the last-linked NAWAPA video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j35loVuccQ. From that YOUtube video,
beginning at about minute-mark 39:40, I quote the following correspondence between Utah Sen. Frank Moss of Utah,
and Oregon Gov. Tom McCall -- during the later part of the month of February, 1967:
Feb. 20, 1967
Dear. Governor McCall;
I was delighted to read in the Christian Science Monitor of February 18th
that you had
endorsed the NAWAPA plan to bring water from Alaska and Canada southward into the
United States. Your action, in completing a water survey in Oregon is the thing that must be
done by all of our states, and indeed by all of the provinces of Canada, so that we have specifics
to talk about. We do know however, that vast amounts of water flow unused into the north
Pacific and Arctic Oceans, and that this water could be utilized, rather than totally wasted.
Sincerely,
Frank E. Moss
Governor McCall wrote back to Sen Frank Moss, as follows:
Feb. [24?], 1967
Dear Senator Moss:
It was exciting to get a letter of approbation from NAWAPA’s No. 1 champion.
Considerable research, including an aerial tour of the Columbia basin on both sides of the
border, has caused me to lean toward this awesome concept. I’m looking forward to completion
of the water studies, so that negotiations can begin in earnest, on this urgent problem.
Sincerely,
Tom McCall
I did not find this particular exchange, between Sen. Moss and Gov. McCall at the Oregon State Archives, but a raft of
correspondence confirms its existence, and McCall’s active endorsement of the NAWAPA program, as discussed below:

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Gov. Tom McCall correspondence with the Ralph M. Parsons Co. – February, 1967
The Ralph M. Parsons Company of Los
Angeles, California, is well-known as the
progenitor and developer of the full-scale
NAWAPA program plans, which it
promoted -- especially to the representatives
of the government of the Western States,
including California of course, and Oregon.
Gov. Mark O. Hatfield invited the Parsons
Company to brief him on NAWAPA, in
1966, and this was done.
Later, shortly after McCall assumed office,
in early February, 1967, the Parsons Co.
telephoned to set-up an appointment for
McCall to be briefed, as is represented in this
inter-office memo, which appears in a
sequence of the Governor’s administrative
records from early March, 1967. The
Parsons Co. “… had briefed Gov. Hatfield
on the water and power situation in Oregon
especially as it concerns NAWPA [sic] and would be very glad to do the same for Gov. McCall….”
The Parsons Co. representative who called offering McCall a briefing, was an engineer named Charles M. Poll.
As Gov. McCall was already on the record as
supporting NAWAPA, his office responded with this
 letter dated February 6, 1967 – this is the same
letter featured on the cover of this OPEN LETTER.
McCall noted in his letter, that he could “foresee a
very real need for you counsel and I will plan to be
in contact with you when that time arrives.”
THE TIME ARRIVED: the next month -
Gov. McCall was not one for idle words; and that
time arrived … probably sooner than even Gov.
McCall expected. The next month, on March 13,
1967, Gov. McCall wrote again to Charles Poll,
offering him an opportunity for a briefing at the end
of the legislative term. Gov. McCall wrote:
“Thank you for sending the further materials
regarding the North American Water and Power
Alliance Concept. When the Legislature is over, I
would very much appreciate the briefing which you
volunteered for both myself and appropriate staff.
Perhaps if you are taking a trip into Oregon in June
or July, such a briefing could be planned …
[An image of this letter appears below, p. 8 ]

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Gov. Ronald Reagan correspondence with Gov. McCall – Feb. 14, 1967
During precisely this period Gov. McCall received a letter, dated February 14, 1967, from neighboring Gov. Ronald
Reagan of California – in which Gov. Reagan sought to discourage Gov. McCall, from his persistent interest in addressing
national issues of water distribution, with national plans – like NAWAPA -- that required federal funding and White
House impetus and coordination. Reagan asked McCall to instead direct his energies into inter-state affiliations:
My dear Governor:
I am impressed with the need for the states of the west to look beyond sectional interests and to approach
water resource development on a regional basis. Few endeavors offer more challenge to the state of the
west and greater potential for lasting benefit. Unless we are successful, lack of water will soon limit
development throughout much of the west.
I am convinced that the best approach to westwide regional is through cooperate state action. I see no
need, certainly at this time, for the states to look to Washington to act as a broker in this endeavor.
The Western States Water Council was created in 1965 by the governors of the 11 western states to
promote state coordination of water resource planning throughout the West. I heartily subscribe to this
purpose and pledge the full support of my administration to making the council an effective instrument of
state initiative ….
Etc. Reagan continued on page 2., to call for 11-state cooperation to address the western-states’ water shortages.
The full letter is illustrated above . CLICK to ENLARGE …

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Gov. Tom McCall correspondence to Gov. Reagan -- March 6, 1967
Gov. McCall’s response to Gov. Reagan, is represented in the Oregon State Archives, by a carbon copy of his letter of
March 6, 1967, imaged below. McCall agreed with Gov. Reagan on the need for wide inter-state cooperation, but also
hearkened back to one of his own addresses, in which he had reminded Gov. Reagan publicly, of imperative of a
NAWAPA-style plan that brought water to the western states “from north of the Canadian border. ” McCall’s letter
read – in relevant part (from page 2 – below right) :
In addition to concurring with your suggestions that the Governors of the western states attempt to
reach agreement on long-range objectives with respect to water resource development, I would further
suggest that a discussion related to the timing and procedures necessary to reach such objectives would
also be fruitful . These matters might be profitably explored at the forthcoming meeting of the Western
Governor’s Conference.
In fact, in my introduction to you at Eugene I hoped that the western states “could unite our efforts
behind a program to bring new millions of acre feet of water to both the Pacific Northwest and
Pacific Southwest from north of the Canadian border.” And I added, “It is none too early for the 1967
Western Governor’s Conference to consider making strong representations to the White House, on
the importance of negotiations looking toward relief.”
Governor McCall was foresighted in more ways than one, closing his letter with a flourish, in acknowledgment of Gov.
Reagan’s aptitude for national office, and his destiny thereto, as a strong presidential candidate for the Republicans:
By the way, my reference to you in Eugene, as the “outstanding political drawing card – Bobby included”
got a heavy play in the media –coast to coast – and apparently added more muscle to the Reagan
presidential boomlet.. Glad to oblige, sir.
Sincerely,
[signed]
Needless to say, the only program that had been put forth … in 1967, which envisioned bringing “new millions of acre
feet of water to both the pacific Northwest and the Pacific Southwest from north of the Canadian border …” was
the Ralph M. Parson’s Co. plan for the North American Water and Power Alliance – NAWAPA. The following images,
from the State Archives, are of an administrative copy of Gov. McCall’s letter:

8. 8
Note the date of Gov. Tom McCall’s letter to Gov. Reagan – March 6, 1967.
In February and March, 1967, Governor McCall was studying only one program and one concept: the NAWAPA plans.
There was only one plan that Gov. McCall had endorsed, and there was only one plan whose representatives he was in
contact with, and for whom he was scheduling briefings for himself and for his staff … NAWAPA.
McCall letter, March 13, 1967, to Charles Poll of Parsons Co.,
Governor McCall had introduced Gov. Reagan at the Western Governor’s Conference in Eugene,
In fact, in my introduction to you at Eugene I hoped that the western states “could unite our efforts
behind a program to bring new millions of acre feet of water to both the Pacific Northwest and
Pacific Southwest from north of the Canadian border.” And I added, “It is none too early for the 1967
Western Governor’s Conference to consider making strong representations to the White House, on
the importance of negotiations looking toward relief.”
Such was the view of a true Republican Governor, and a true environmentalist, in 1967. Gov. McCall’s endorsement of
the NAWAPA program, and his advocacy of NAWAPA as the solution to the problems facing the western states was
unique in the West, and across the nation … He said… “It is none to early… in 1967” for NAWAPA …..
NAWAPA NOW: 1967

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That was LEADERSHIP:
Governor McCall also lead Oregon in a number of other initiatives.
One of these was a 4-year inventory and assessment and projection, initiated by Gov. Hatfield, and undertaken by the
Oregon Water Resources Board, under McCall, to assess Oregon’s long-term water requirements, looking out 100 years
into the future of the State. It was – apparently – the first of its kind among the Northwest states. This assessment,
which was called the Ultimate Needs Water Resources Survey, was completed in 1969, and gauged Oregon’s
anticipated water needs, with healthy growth projected out to 2070. The Report determined that by that time, Oregon
would have insufficient water to meet its “Ultimate Needs.”
Sample chart from the 1969 Ultimate Needs Water Resources Survey – Oregon State Water Resources Dept.
The Klamath Basin Crisis: Despite Governor McCall’s foresighted efforts, Oregon fell into a position of “Ultimate
Needs” for water, much earlier … as early as 2001, when shortfalls in water supply in the Klamath Basin, became acute,
and were declared a “crisis” –as in fact they were. These shortfalls of available water, necessitated the prioritizing of
water allocations for endangered fish, as against working, invested farmers, caused the shut-off of irrigation to important
Oregon farmlands, with consequent unnecessary loss of arable lands, and distress and dislocation of farmers and their
families. This was a water supply crisis which, on the timeline of Gov. McCall’s 1969 Ultimate Needs survey, arrived
almost 70 years ahead of schedule. Seventy years earlier than anticipated by the best scientific forecasts. The ongoing
Klamath Basin crisis need not have occurred: implementation of a NAWAPA program in 1970, would easily have
resulted in the delivery of PLENTY OF WATER to the Klamath Basin, and refilled Klamath lake, many time over,
before the arrival of the year 2001. Construction of NAWAPA would have averted the Klamath water crisis, that the
leadership of the State had – through inaction – left themselves powerless to alleviate. http://www.klamathbasincrisis.org/
What other crises await, or have already occurred – nationwide -- which have been accelerated, perhaps aggressively
so, because no national scale water development programs have been constructed, for such clearly foreseeable
needs? Widespread flooding, as along the Missouri? Yes. Crop-losses, year after year? Yes. Grain shortages? Yes.
Unmitigated drought in the Southwestern states and Texas? Yes. Cattle sell-offs? Yes. Food shortages? Yes.
Should countermeasures, in the form of major water development projects, be undertaken now? _____.

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NAWAPA NOW: 1967
Obviously, in Gov. McCall’s understanding, full implementation and construction of NAWAPA was the obvious answer,
to address and meet an obviously foreseeable need -- just for OREGON. And consider, what it could have meant, and
could still mean, for all those Americans in the Southwest, who could have been served by its waters already…
NAWAPA NOW:
Telegram, April 30, 1969 , Sen. Mark O. Hatfield to Gov. Tom McCall.
According to Sen. Hatfield’s telegram, above, McCall’s planning marked “a rare occasion of a public body attempting
to anticipate the future.” Both Hatfield & McCall were on top of NAWAPA, as early as 1967 -- and it was their choice
as the necessary program to implement in response to foreseeable needs. NAWAPA is still the answer, though in many
regards – as for the Klamath Basin -- implementation of NAWAPA NOW will be already almost 50 years TOO LATE.
There is no effective water-shortage in the Klamath Basin, and there is no effective drought, even in Texas, except that
which has been tolerated – even, virtually created -- by our failure as ONE NATION, to prevent it, while we still had the
opportunity. That failure was caused by the persistent institutionalized ignorance and mis-information, and by public
apathy leading to government inaction – not just in Oregon, but nationwide. Now, however, there is no longer any leisure
of time – LaRouche and LaRouchePAC have the updated program for NAWAPA program -- NAWAPA XXI –
virtually ready to roll out. http://larouchepac.com/infrastructure An Oregon-California extension has been
engineered -- http://larouchepac.com/node/22581 -- which would address the situation in the Klamath basin.
PLENTY OF WATER … There is still PLENTY OF WATER. It only to needs to be moved …
Are you ready to move it? If you don’t know… call the remaining farmers in the Klamath Basin and ask them ….
NAWAPA NOW: 1967
Images of Gov. Mc Call’s correspondence from Boxes 16, 66, 67 and 112, Locations 4-16-4-3, Or. State Archives
Roch Steinbach rochsteinbach@stanfordalumni.org