WORLAND (AP) -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal says more focus is needed on identifying possible reservoir sites around the state.

Speaking to the Wyoming Water Development Commission and the Legislature's Select Water Committee on Friday, Freudenthal called for more focus on developing sources of water.

He said the state's water loan program has tended to focus on delivery rather than impoundment.

Freudenthal suggested that a new unit might be needed within the commission to study where reservoir sites could be built, as well as gather support and permits for such projects.

Freudenthal said the proposed shift in focus would return to an earlier, basic intent of the commission. In the 1970s through the early 1980s, he said, the commission's major function was to secure storage for use of Wyoming's portion of the water flowing through the state.

But the federal government did not recognize Wyoming's statement of purpose for water projects as meeting the federal definition of purpose and need, the governor explained.

"We're not asking the government for money to do the projects, we are only asking for our right as a sovereign state to use the water that belongs to us," he said.

Freudenthal said he expects Mike Besson, the commission's executive director, to submit a supplemental budget request for about $500,000 to cover the extra positions needed to work on water impoundment.

The appointees would be approved by the governor to deal with federal regulations, make trips to Washington, D.C., and supervise each new large dam project, according to Sen. Gerald Geis, R-Worland, chairman of the Select Water Committee.

Geis said the process of identifying potential reservoir sites and working through federal government regulations, is time-consuming. "They'll look at the whole state for possible sites," he said.

"There are only two drainages in the state that have a surplus of water, which are the Wind River/Big Horn drainage and the Green River drainage," he said.

He said only one dam will be built at a time. The Wyoming Water Development Commission and Select Water Committee would decide on the final sites before the Legislature approves funding for the projects.

Final approval would come from the governor.

Although it would take at least 10 years before any of the dams are built --it takes time to get permits and studies completed -- the overall feeling from the water officials was positive, Geis said.

"He's the first governor that I've served under that's interested in building some kind of big water storage projects," he said. "That's what we had envisioned doing."

Geis said the commission's original purpose was to build dams, but it got away from that goal when it began funding improvements and smaller water distribution projects.