BOARD00018

• Board Meeting Date: 3/20/1977
• Description: Agenda, Minutes, Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD MEETING MINUTES
HOLIDAY INN
GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO

March 20, 1977

The Colorado Water Conservation Board met, pursuant to notice, at
2:00 p.m., Benjamin F. Stapleton, Chairman, presiding.

MR. STAPLETON: Let's call this regularly scheduled meeting of the
Colorado Water conservation Board to order.

Mr. Sparks, do you know what members of the Board will not be here
today?

MR. SPARKS: Only two Board members that r know of will not be here
today, Mr. Kuiper and Mr. Vandemoer.

MR. STAPLETON: We are going to discuss the budget and maybe some of
the background on the meeting that we are going to hold tomorrow and
the next day, and we will see how we go on the informal agenda at this
particular meeting tOday. Larry?

MR. SPARKS: Mr. Chairman, there was previously sent to the Board
members an explanation of the proposed federal budget for the fiscal
year 1978 as it affects Colorado reclamation projects. The information
that was sent to the Board is a cOpy of the budget submitted by Presi-
dent Ford. In that summary, we have set forth the available funds that
were already appropriated for this year, along with President Ford's
request for the next fiscal year. As the Board members know, President
Carter submitted an amendment to the Ford budget regarding reclamation
projects which requested the termination of the Dolores, Fruitland Mesa,
and Savery-Pot Hook appropriations. You will note that in every case
with these three projects that there were substantial funds available
to be expended during this fiscal year and those funds were appropriated
by the Congress to initiate project construction. In every case the
initial project construction would have commenced within about the next
90 days, and we would have been well along on project construction
during this fiscal year. The federal fiscal year now ends on Septem-
ber 30th of each year.

I attended the hearings in Washington, D. C., about two and a half weeks
ago when the Secretary of the Interior, Cecil Andrus, was requested to
testify before the House Interior Committee and explain the reasons for
the sudden termination of various water resource projects throughout
the United States. One of the questions specifically asked of Mr. Andrus
by the congressmen was whether or not the President intended to impound
the funds now available for the cOnstruction of these various projects.