STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

The Colorado River bill being considered today by the U.S. House of Representatives is a good bill but Sen. Thomas Kuchel claims it could have been better, from Imperial Valley’s standpoint, if Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall had not “flip-flopped.”

Kuchel, campaigning in Brawley at a Repubican-sponsored banquet, said that HR-3300 is a tribute to Rep. Wayne Aspinall, because he “ignored the irresponsible position of the Secretary (Udall).”

Aspinall’s river bill, which calls for construction of the Centra Arizona Project and includes an annual guarantee of 4.4 million acre-feet of water for California, “is a good bill, although it falls short of the bill to which all of the basin states agreed three years ago,” Kuchel said. “The Aspinall bill represents a compromise on the part of every state in the West.”

California’s senior senator, seeking nomination in the June 4 primary en route to his third full term, said that his own river bill last year was torpedoed when Udall “suddenly and without warning withdrew the administration’s support for constructive legislation and tried to foist a stripped-down Central Arizona Project bill on the states of the Colorado River Basin.”

40 years ago

Preliminary approval was given by the Brawley City Council to annex about 35 acres north of the city on Dogwood Road, commonly known as the Government Camp

Despite strong reservations by councilman Pat Williams and doubt expressed by City Manager Walker Ritter on whether or not recreation facilities would be put in, the preliminary site plan introduced by David A. Coup was given the go-ahead.

Attorney Mark Rollins, representing the County Housing Authority, admitted to the City Council, “I can’t promise it will be cheap for the city.”

But he stressed, “The positive factor in annexation is having more control over what goes on there.”

Rollins was referring to the problem of juvenile gangs in the area.

Presently, the area contains old homes and some trailers.

The site plan presented by Coup, of Coup and Smith Architects, Calexico, shows plans for 58 housing units and various recreational areas.

30 years ago

After paying more than $20 million as the result of past Salton Sea flooding cases, the Imperial Irrigation District has been hit with another $11.9 million in claims for damages caused by the rising level of the sea.

During its meeting Tuesday, the IID Board of Directors denied a claim of damages made on behalf of 82 Imperial and Riverside county landowners by the San Diego law firm of Goebel, Shensa and Beale.