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(0 '--f ~ ~ THE STUDY would tal(e too long--two to three years--and the delay might jeopardize federal funding for Savery-Pot Hook and the other thre. projects already approved by Congress for construction, the council said. The other projects are Fruitland Mesa and Dallas Creek, both near Montrose, and the Dolores Project near Cortez. Moreover, the council concluded that environmentalists, when they participated in the review, presented no compelling evidence to convince council members to conduct such a study. Nevertheless, the council said impact on the environment must be considered and ways to lessen it devised. The advisers suggested such information could be included in final environmental impact statements on Savery-Pot Hook and the Dolores projects. (Final statements already have been issued on Fruitland Mesa and Dallas Creek.) The comments were sent to bureau officials several days ago by council chairman Roy Romer, Lamm's executive assistant. The council reviewed the project at the request of another of its members, Harris Sherman, director of the State Department of Natural Resources. SHERMAN ALREADY has reviewed and approved the bureau's environmental studies on Fruitland Mesa and Dallas Creek. The Dolores Project is still under review by his department. There are three other major bureau projects proposed for the western part of the state,'.but which haven't been given construction money by Congress--the Animas-La Plata, San Miguel and West Divide projects. All seven projects are designed to collect and use the remaining water available to the state under the Colorado River Compact. Environmentalists and government wildlife officials have been critical of plans to build the projects without knowing what their cumula- tive impact on the region would be. The issues raised by critics prompted Sherman's request for the council review, which was broader than reviews he made of the other two projects. To aid in the review of Savery-Pot Hook as well as the general policy issues raised about all seven projects, the council obtained the ser- vices of a three-member technical panel--Dr. William Lord, a University of Colorado natural resources economist; William Hillhouse, a Denver water lawyer, and Dr. Norman Evans, a Colorado State University agri- cultural engineer and member of the State Water Quality Control Commis- sion. IN ITS REPORT, the council said Colorado has supported the concept of the Savery-Pot Hook project well back into the 1940s. The review provided no reasons for the Lamm administration to reverse that long- standing policy, the report said. -2-