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v\JJVOCATE of Northeastern Colorado 'ME' XLI. NO, 258 ,51\' . ;F,:~jpAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1951 I SINGLE COpy 5c: 28JO Sterling C. (. Jaid iUfCivor Of Some Dam on South Platte -. The SterUng Chamber of Com.. dolIa,rs. This wi.II be .increased to an meree announced that it favors eree.. estImated 39 million when the cost tlan of a dam "somewhere along the of brInging the p06sible additional South Platte river," immediatelY 30,000 acres of land under Irriga- after J. H. Knight.s district man- tieD Is added. . . lager of the bureau of reclamation OutlinIng. the history of the Nar- outlJned advantages of the proposed rows dam proposal, Knights said the Narrows dam in a pUblic hearing site was first considered in 1909 and this morning. was again strongly considered after' i "The Narrows dam would provide floods in 1921 and 1935.' At that addltional water for 230.000 acre~ tIme the corps of army engineers ,of land now under irrIgation, ulti~ w&s interested in the daIp. as flood mately would add 30,000 additional control pro"ect. acres. add $1.200,000 annually to the,- ~A1iI - .. income of the South Platte vall~y.:!8 \ s and prOVide valuable flood contto\ i""the s.ervlces, ~nlghts 6atd at t.he Steli'1' president's emergenc:r control plan. lmg hearmg called- by the Colorad Because'of the oroject's dual nature Water Conservation board. of flood coritro( and conservation it The Sterling chamber feels some came under bureau of reclamation such project as Narrows is necessary studies in .1941. land" has definIte economic value, Legal ObUration Seen 'Isecretary Albert How.e said after KnIghts .stated that the legal the mornIng sessfon. He added how- obl1gations of the Colorado river :ever, that the. Sterl1ng group fee15 compact-----wm ultimately necessitate; ,that. all conSiderations as to t~e dam construction of Borne kind' to ,locatiOn of the dam should be left regulate river flow to the eastern I to engineerIng experts. . borders . of Colorado a. n d "return Weldona Area Opposed . flows" fro m the Colorado ~ Big ~ The project has been bItterly op- Thompson Into t~e South Platte. Iposed by residents of Weldon valley, No such huge proJect as the Nar- northwest of Fort Morgan. More ro~s dam would be necessar~ for ,than 250 of these residents will lose th~s reason alone, however, Kmghts .their homes beneath e. ma.n~made saId. ~ lake if the project is completed. Gov~ The recl,am~tlon mana~er sal~ the iernrnent procedure provides for com- Narrows SIte IS best of SIX conslder:- i pensation wIth the right of appeal ed, because of ~maller cost, 1ncrea~ed to the courts In such situations. storage capacity, less evaporatlOn Plans for the dam have centered loss. and technical construction ad- In recent years around reclamation vantages. bureau selection of the site for the R. J. Tipton, consulting engineer I dam, Knights saId, although the ot the Water Conservation board, ,Narrows site has actually been con- said he was generally agreedl 'with ~ sidered as a p06sible flood control bureau of reclamation prop06als re- : project by the corps of army engine- garding the Narrows site and its : ers sInce 1909. feasibility. He emphasized that he Under present plans, the Narrows spoke as an engineer and not as dam would provIde 700,000 acre feet an economist. 10f water st.orage space for normal I The morning program was devoted storage requirements, with an addi- J entirely to an exposition at the tional 818,000 teet tor further space Iposltion that government engineers I which might be needed for extra- have taken regarding the pro:QP.sal. ordinary flood or after further de4 The afternoon sesston, starting! at velopment of possible water regula- I :30. was to be devoted to Questions I tion plans, Knights said. and answers and statements' by L~rge Area Affected Northeastern Colorado residents re- L d t b h d b t h garding theIr views of the project. I , an 0 e pure ase y e I ' : bureau tor the project includes 26,150 . - . acres for flood conkol and conserVa- , tion space. and an additional !lood: easement over 2,100 acres. Costs of the dam are estimated I by the bureau at about 32 mlllion I