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O{"...~ ., . ..;.; \J COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD 102 Columbine Building 1845 Sherman street Denver, Colorado 80203 January IS, 1976 --~.-.- r--RECEtVED ----.-_&..-.-- : -. '9 v ' D~VfirO:-: OF PLANNING M E MOB ~ N Q U ~ TO: Philip Schmuck, Director Colorado Division of Planning FROM: Laren D. Morrill, Deputy Director Colorado Water Conservation Board SUBJECT: Draft Environmental Statement, Narrows Unit, pick Sloan Missouri River Basin Program Reference is made to your December 22, 1976, memorandum concerning the Draft Environmental Statement for the Narrows Unit. We have reviewd the Environmental Statement and wish to offer the following observations and comments. The Narrows unit area lies along the lower South Platte River, extending generally from the proposed Narrows Dam near Fort Morgan to the Nebraska state line. The project was originally authorized by the united States Congress in 1944 as a unit of the comprehensive plan for the Missouri River Basin Project. Precon- struction activities on the Narrows Project were started in 1947 by the Bureau of Reclamation but were terminated in 1952 because of the lack of state support at that time. The project was re-authorized by the Congress in 1970 as a unit of the Pick Sloan Missouri River Basin Program. The Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District was organized in 1964 as the sponsoring and contractual agency for the project. The district includes parts of Logan, Morgan, Sedgwick, and Washington counties. During the fifteen-year period 1947-1961, which was used for feasibility study of the Narrows unit, an average of 187,000 acre-feet of water from the South Platte River flowed across the state line in excess of compact commitments. During the periOd 1965-1971, the average annual wasted flow was approximately 400.000 acre-feet of water. The Narrows Unit was designed to conserve these unused flows for use in the state.