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2914 ii 5. Presentation of written statements or petitions to be considered by the Conservation Board. 6. Presentation of oral statements, extemporaneous or prepared, by individuals on attitude toward Narrows Unit. " The morning session of each meeting uas devoted to remarks Qy Judge Stone, presentation of the Bureau of Reclamation plan, and discussions by R. J. Tipton. The general public participated in the afternoon session. At each day's session, Judge Stone was introduced by a local resident. On ::ieptember 13, he was introduced by Mr. George A. t;pperson, attorney in Fort Morgan; on beptember 14, by Mr. R. J. Wright, ::iuperintendent of North Sterling, Iliff and Logan Irrigation District; and on September IS, by Mr. J. M. Dille, Secretary- Manager of the Northern Colorado liater Conservancy District. I. Judge Stone's remarks at th~ hearings concerning the purposes of the public hearings on the Narrows Unit and his comments on this proposed development are summariz.ed in the following paragraphs: These hearings were authorized by the Colorado Water Conservation Board to give the Bureau of Reclamation an opportunity to present to the people who might be directly affected by, or interested in, the Narrows Unit, its plan of development for that Unit; to secure for the Colorado liater Conservation Board with respect to the Narrows Unit the ideas and comments as well as the general attitude of the people living in the area; to aid the Board in the preparation of its official recommendations and comments on the project for submittal to the Bureau of Reclamation. He explained that it is the policy of the Board to hold public meetings whenever there are questions concerning a project and, further, that the Board and not Judge Stone makes final detec',":.aation as to the desirability of a project. ' Floods in the !,lissouri River Basin in 1947 brought about the decision of the Government to include the lJarrows Unit in a program of early construction. It had been previously authorized as a part of the plan of develo,ment of the Missouri River Basin. Because of the conservation as~ects involved, the Bureau of Recla- mation was given the responsibility of its construction. The Board recogniz.ed the necessity for the construction of storage on the lower South Platte, but was not satisfied as to the exact location, capacity, plan of operation, and was anxious to avoid arid, if possible, eliminate the resultant inundation of ~eldon Valley. From preliminary studies, the Bureau had selected the Narrows site for the dam. The Board, however, encouraged the investigation and further study of alter- nate sites. The Board had the full cooperation of the Bureau in these more exten- sive studies and has had an opportunity to review these studies from time to time as the investigation progressed. SUlllIllaries of the present plan have been prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation, copies of which were mailed by the Conservation Board to interested persons prior to this hearing. In addition to objections raised by the Board, certain irrigation interests raised questions, or a "red flag", as to the necessity for the reservoir, and its