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<br />- ..... <br />'. . . <br /> <br />Comparing the theoretical views of government engineers <br />with the practical observation of the inhabitants of the <br />area, we find that the Corps of Engineers found a peak flood <br />flow at Balzac of 123,000 cubic feet per second in 1965 <br />and only 20,500 cubic feet per second in 1973. The earlier <br />flood was more than five times the volume of the later <br />flood. Yet, the Corps found that damage from the small <br />flood was $88,000,000 and from the large flood was only <br />$32,000,000. The members of RLG, who live .in the viCinity, <br />are quite aware that values have not appreciatea.to any <br />considerable degree in the eight years which elapsed between <br />the two floods. Visual observation makes it clear that <br />the upstream flood control reservoirs built by the Army <br />Corps of Engineers near Denver have relieved the Platte <br />River so as to substantially minimize flood peaks from <br />Denver to Fort Morgan. Actual experience has taught that <br />the real flood hazard is from Bijou Creek which enters the <br />South Platte just below the Narrows Reservoir and near <br />enough to the faulty south abutment to be a hazard to its <br />stabili ty. <br /> <br />Another area which the Congress should insist on havtng <br />uPdated before it considers funding for the Narrows Unit, <br />aside from escalation, are the major design changes and <br />additional wildlife integration features which were added <br />to the originally authorized Narrows Unit plan in 1975. <br />When the cost ceiling for the Narrows was calculated by <br />the GAO in February of 1976, the project was almost $20,000,000 <br />over its authorized ceiling. Everyone knows what has happened <br />to prices in the last five years. <br /> <br />RLG is not conversant with statutory environmental <br />requirements, but is concerned that the project might be <br />started, the lives of many farm families disrupted and then <br />the whole thing have to be dropped because of environmental <br />concerns which have not been met. In December 1976, the <br />U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revealed that the Narrows <br />Unit, along with other proposed water development projects <br />in the Platte River Basin, would substantially reduce the <br />water needed to maintain critical habitat for the endangered <br />whooping cranes, sandhill cranes and other waterfowl in <br />Nebraska. This destruction of critical habitat may inter- <br />fere with U.S. obligations to Canada and Mexico under the <br />Migratory Bird Act. <br /> <br />Nor should the local environment be overlooked. A <br />part of the quality of life in the area which would be <br />inundated by the Narrows Unit consists of the installation <br />of a domestic water supply of high quality water available <br />to all the farms in the area, and an underground cable <br /> <br />-13- <br />