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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Current Status <br /> <br />Advance planning studies were initiated on the Dolores project <br />in F.Y. 1971 with funds appropriated in F.Y. 1970. but held in budgetary <br />reserve. Advance planning studies will be curtailed at the end of F.Y. <br />1973 pending availability of funds. It is anticipated it would take at <br />least a year to complete the advance planning studies and prepare the <br />definite plan report when funds are again made available. The F.Y. 1974 <br />program consisting of carryover funds from F.Y. 1973 amounting to $100,000 <br />is to be used to determine the effect of the project on the salinity of <br />the Colorado Rive~ and to estimate the cost for facilities to offset <br />salinity effects of the project. <br /> <br />The Bureau en~ered into a contract with the Colorado State <br />University, dated April 9, 1971, for the establishment and operation of a <br />research and demonstration farm in southwestern Colorado. The term of <br />the contract is for a five-year period beginning July 1, 1971, and <br />extending through June 30, 1976. In accordance with terms of the contract <br />it was necessary for the Bureau to terminate the contract as of June 30, <br />1973, because f~nds are not included in the F.Y. 1974 budget for the <br />Bureau's participation. Further support of the farm would be dependent <br />upon availability of funds in F.Y. 1975 and subsequent years. <br /> <br />Total investigation costs to June 30, 1972, including feasibility <br />and advance pl~nning studies, and one year participation in the research <br />and demonstration farm, amount to $1,262,873. <br /> <br />Current advance planning investigations have advanced to the <br />point that pl~n formulation studies have been completed with tentative <br />selection of the project plan. Several alternatives to the plan presented <br />in the authorizing report have been analyzed. These alternatives include <br />sprinkler versus gravity irrigation for new project lands, increased <br />development of Indian resources on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian reservation, <br />and enhanced recreational and fish and wildlife benefits on the lower <br />Dolores River. <br /> <br />Several meetings and a field trip into the Dolores River Canyon <br />have been conducted to air the environmental concerns of the project as <br />it relates to the Dolores River. Impacts of the project relating to <br />white water boating and development of a sustained fishery below McPhee <br />Damsite have been incorporated into the project plan. <br /> <br />-5- <br />