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<br /> <br />. <br /> <br />CHAPTER III <br /> <br />PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT <br /> <br />The Beginning of Team Planning <br /> <br />The Water Resource Council, an independent executive agency of the <br />U.S. Government, first announced the development of proposed "Principles <br />and Standards for Planning Water and Related Land Resources" in the Fed- <br />eral Register of December 21, 1971. After extensive public review these <br />Principles and Standards were refined and the final establishment of <br />them was published in the Federal Register of September 10, 1973. This <br />action provided that future planning of water projects would be multi- <br />objective in scope and accomplished by multidisciplinary participation. <br />This participation would be open to representation by every concerned <br />Federal, State, and local agency as well as interested organizations and <br />individuals from the private sector. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />In response to the Principles and Standards, Bureau of Reclamation <br />planning is now accomplished by a Multiobjective Planning (MOP) team <br />drawn from every concerned agency and all interested segments of soci- <br />ety. Prior to this, public involvement in project planning was gen- <br />erally limited to community leaders, various Federal and State agencies, <br />and water conservancy district representatives. <br /> <br />The Principles and Standards further provided that two single- <br />emphasis alternative plans will be developed early in project planning <br />to serve as a basis for developing alternatives and a final plan. These <br />two basic alternatives are National Economic Development (NED) and <br />Environmental Quality (EQ). As the names imply, the NED alternative <br />would stress the economic benefits to the Nation while the EQ plan would <br />accent local environmental preservation and enhancement. <br /> <br />Team planning was initiated on the proposed Lower Yampa Project in <br />1972, involving eight Federal agencies, two State agencies, and the <br />Colorado River Water Conservation District. These studies were dis- <br />continued because interest waned and funds were terminated. <br /> <br />Yellow Jacket Project Team Planning <br /> <br />When funds became available to renew the feasibility studies on the <br />Yellow Jacket Project in Fiscal Year 1975, planning was initiated in <br />accordance with the Principles and Standards. A public meeting was held <br />January 15, 1975, in Meeker to review the project's history, .outline the <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />19 <br />