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mid-1973, a siting study had been completed recommending a site on the Laramie River not far from Wheatland, Wyoming. Construction was to begin in April 1975, with a startup date for Unit 1 of January 1, 1979. To complete the project and later to be able to operate the power plant, MBPP required permits from or agreements with a number of state and federal agenc1es--over 25 in all. The most important of these were the following: (1) Permits from the Wyoming Board of Control to store and use water from the Laramie River. (2) A permit from the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council to begin construction. (3) A "404 Permit" from the US Army Corps of Engineers. (4) A loan guarantee from the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) for part of the cost of construction. The Project first applied to the Wyoming State Engineer in 1973 for direct flow rights to the waters of the Laramie and storage rights for Grayrocks Dam. However, the Laramie is nearly a fully appropriated stream, characterized by a qui te erratic annual flow. The 1973 appropriations do not assure a suffi- ciently reliable supply of water for the power plant, even though Grayrocks Reservoir would allow the storage of over four times the plant's annual esti- mated water consumption. Therefore, MBPP has purchased existing water rights held by upstream agricultural users. Although Basin Electric had hoped that these purchased rights would provide about 10 000 acre-feet per year (acre- ft/yr), subsequent adjudication by the State Board of Control reduced them considerably, and now it is expected that no more than 5000 acre-ft/yr will be provided by these purchased rights. Inasmuch as MBPP will consume up to 23 000 acre-ft/yr, the great majority of the plant's water needs will be met from water rights junior to those of all existing upstream users. The construction permit requirement was mandated by the Wyoming Industrial Siting Act of 1975, which established an Industrial Siting Council to review all large-scale industrial projects to ensure that this construction would not impose unreasonable or unanticipated demands on community services and to allow affected third parties to be heard. Hearings were held in February 1976, and a permit was issued in April. The issuance of this permit was challenged by the Laramie River Conservation Counc il and the Powder River Basin Resources Council, but was eventually upheld by the Wyoming Supreme Court. 28