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<br />" <br /> <br />... <br /> <br />f <br /> <br />('~'-- <br />;vJ' <br />',' <br /> <br />STATEMENT OF FELIX L. SPARKS, DIRECTOR <br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br /> <br />BEFORE THE <br />PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE, COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS <br />UNITED STATES SENATE <br /> <br />WASHINGTON, D. C. <br />APRIL 5, 1979 <br /> <br />Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: <br /> <br />I am Felix L. Sparks, Director and Secretary of the Colorado Water <br />Conservation Board. This board is the official agency of the State of <br />Colorado charged with protecting, developing and conserving the water <br />resources of the State of Colorado. In addition to representing that <br />board, I also appear today as the representative of the Honorable <br />Richard D. Lamm, Governor of the State of Colorado. <br /> <br />The President's recommended Colorado reclamation budget contains <br />adequate funds for the purposes described in the budget message. <br />However, there are two critical omissions which we believe should be <br />corrected. These omissions relate to the already authorized Animas- <br />La Plata and Narrows federal reclamation projects. A summary of our <br />funding request for these two projects and the reasons therefor is as <br />follows: <br /> <br />Project <br /> <br />Purpose <br /> <br />Amount <br /> <br />Animas-La Plata <br />Narrows <br />Narrows (Alternative) <br /> <br />Advance Planning <br />Construction <br />Advance Planning <br /> <br />$ 450,000 <br />3,500,000 <br />250,000 <br /> <br />The Animas-La Plata project is a joint Colorado-New Mexico project <br />designed, among other things, to solve many of the problems with the <br />Indian reservations in both Colorado and New Mexico. Both the Southern <br />Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes in Colorado have substantial amounts of <br />lands which would be irrigated by the project. In addition, both res- <br />ervations contain significant coal deposits which could be converted <br />into energy if water supplies can be made available. Municipal and <br />industrial water would also be supplied to the Navajo tribe in New <br />Mexico. The project is designed also to solve vexatious problems <br />created by pending litigation concerning Indian water rights. Further <br />components of the project would serve nonIndian populations in Colorado <br />and New Mexico with both agricultural and municipal water. <br />