Supplements 1-3 of Views, Comments and Recommendations on narrows Dam Project

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„6 STATEMENT TO THE COLORADO UTATER CONSERVATION BOARD SUBJECT: THE NARROWS DAM PROJECT Submitted by Don Richardson {Farmer in Bijou Valley South of Wiggins) March 26, 1952 As an individual with no material interest in the effects of the Narrows Dam Project, except from a standpoint of the possible effect on the future development of the watersheds of Bijou and Kiawa creeks, and the probable in— creased tax burden of an individual tax payer in Morgam County, which would be created as an effect of taking a considerable percentage of high priced and high producing land from the tax roles of a small county, I would like to express my opposition to the Narrows Dam Project on certain of its principles. I would like to point out the folly of the proposed project from a flood control standpoint. The major flood threat and the major flood damage occurs largely in the vicinity of where the water falls, especially in the steep and eroded foothills area of the Platte River watershed. This fact was demonstrated last year in the floods that damaged Loveland and Ft. Collins, Colorado in the amount of several hundred thousand dollars. The snowmelt floods, without exception originate in the areas above the foothills. Almost without exception, the disastrous rain storm floods originate in the area of the foothills and above. A large portion of the cost of the Narrows Dam Project is to be charged off as flood control, to protect, especially, the municipalities lying below the dam. I believe history will show that very little damage has occurred to municipalities lying below this site and above the confluence with the North Platte River. However, in very recent history, we find that several disastrous floods have occured to municipalities above this site. In our own watershed areas on the Bijou and Kiowa creeks, the towns of Elbert, Kiowa,Byers and Wiggins were heavily damaged in 1935. Denver has been damaged by Cherry creek in very recent years. Last year, 1951, Loveland and Ft. Collins suffered considerable damage as has been pointed out previously in this state- ment. This does not tell the story of bottom land farms and ranches that suffered severe damage in big floods, and considerable damage from lesser floods that did no damage to municipalities. Most of these farms and ranches lie above the Narrows Dam Site, More than half of the storage space in Narrows Dam is provided for flood control. The creation of this flood control feature in the dam, naturally means the condemnation of considerable acreage of high producing farm land. As stated by the Bureau of Reclamation, the chief reasons for the choice of the Narrows site, was the capacity for the control of these floods and the inclusion of Bijou creek and its floods.