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. CHAPTER II INTRODUCTION Identification of Incomplete Data More data must be collected before the study can be completed as originally envisioned. Also, the level of certain kinds of data is uneven among the different localities of the UCRS area. Investigations are well-advanced for the Yellow Jacket Unit, and a feasibility report could probably be completed at such time as definite water needs were established. In the rest of the area, however, there are deficiencies in the basic information concerning land classification, fish and wildlife, historical and archaeological resources, and surface and ground-water sup- plies, as well as inconclusive data on potential water needs. Previous Investigations by the Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation conducted several studies in the area prior to the initiation of the UCRS. Except for the Ute Indian Unit, all of the projects in the area named by the CRSP and Colorado River Basin Acts had received at least appraisal surveys. The Central Utah Project has been limited to the area west of the Green River so the Ute Indian lands in the UCRS area were never involved in investigations by that project, even though they were covered by earlier reconnaissance surveys. . Studies on file The Bureau of Reclamation has conducted studies in the Yampa and White River Basins since the 1920's. The earlier work was primarily aimed at diverting unused water supplies from the Lower White River Basin to the Yampa River Basin for irrigation. The earliest Bureau study covering the area that is available was written in 1924, as the Lower White River Project, but never published. This report indicated that sufficient water was available to irrigate 52,000 acres of land, 42,500 in the Yampa Basin and 9,500 in the White River Basin. The project was, however, considered infeasible at that time. In September 1937, in an unpublished study entitled Western Slope Surveys - Colorado, the Yampa Project, a plan was proposed to supply irrigation water to farm land near the headwaters of the Yampa River. This report identified four potential storage sites on the river in Routt and Garfield Counties, of which two were recommended for project use. About 14,415 acres of land near the towns of Phippsburg and Yampa would have been irrigated by this project. In May 1946 an unpublished study entitled White-Yampa Diversion Project considered power production as well as irrigation. A.feasible plan was presented which was recommended for further investigation. The plan called for a reservoir on the White River with water diverted . 12