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will guarantee optimal flood and drought flows for the Taylor River, while exporting <br />an average 60,000 acre -feet (25% of native flows) for South Platte and Arkansas River <br />Basin needs. Current development costs for Phase I are about 600 million dollars. <br />This includes: up to 1.2 million acre -feet of multi -year storage; a reversible pumped <br />storage system for reservoir filling; and a gravity aqueduct to South Platte and <br />Arkansas River Basin cities, farms, and environments. <br />Subsequent Phases CCP's Phase II would include a reversible high altitude collection <br />system connecting the East River with Taylor Park and Union Park Reservoirs. This <br />gravity- driven system would provide an additional 60,000 acre -feet for export (25% of <br />average native flows), while assuring optimal flows for the East River and its <br />tributaries during damaging flood and drought cycles. A Phase III gravity <br />interconnect between CCP's Union Park Reservoir and the Fryingpan- Arkansas <br />Project's high altitude collection system could also synergistically enhance the <br />productivity of both projects. Phase IV could provide gravity augmentation for the <br />Rio Grande Basin, when needed for Southern Colorado droughts. <br />Competition with "Bi1Z Straw" Proposal A governor's independent panel of <br />engineering and environmental experts could use existing information to verify CCP's <br />superior water supply and drought protection capabilities within thirty days. A <br />similar quick review could also confirm that Colorado's Big Straw pump -back <br />proposal from the Utah state line is fatally flawed for numerous environmental and <br />economic reasons. For example, national environmental laws would automatically <br />prohibit any proposal that consumes massive amounts of energy for long- distance <br />pumping of warm, silt and salt -laden river water into Colorado's high mountain <br />environments. A few Upper Gunnison activists have successfully used Big Straw since <br />1990 as a "red herring" to block consideration and development of CCP. The Central <br />Colorado Project is a historically significant opportunity for Colorado and the <br />Southwestern Region. Big Straw is a political ploy with no professional support. <br />Availability of CCP for Development After the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling, <br />Arapahoe County and its Union Park Water Authority members decided to deed all of <br />their Central Colorado Project storage and development rights back to NECO, as <br />required by the 1988 Sale and Purchase Agreement. CCP is now available for <br />immediate, cooperative development by local, state, and federal interests throughout <br />both sides of the Divide. All federally aided water projects since the early 1900s have <br />been the result of state and local initiatives. The Bureau has been expecting a CCP <br />type Upper Gunnison water development initiative from Colorado since 1957. Those <br />public and private entities that participate will have assured drought, growth, and <br />environmental protection from the world's most productive water conservation <br />project. <br />Dave Miller, President <br />Natural Energy Resources Company <br />P. O. Box 567, Palmer Lake, CO 80133 <br />(719) 481 -2003, Fax (719) 481 -3452 <br />