BOARD00146

• Board Meeting Date: 12/30/1953
• Description: Minutes and Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

J.12

There was not another state that showed the leadership
that Colorado did. One of the impelling reasons why
this Board was created was to settle East Slope-West
Slope difficulties. The relationships were not good;
they have not become any better. They probably are
worse now than when this Board was created. The State
must get together or'its water is going to go to
California. The Board did a lot of good work during
the war period. The Board made original studies, make
original reports, and the projects were authorized."

I

Mr. Williams: "I want to ask Mr. Dutcher if this Board were
to return on January 11, if he could find out the
sentiments of Western Colorado. We would then be in a
better position to .act in uniso~."

Mr. Dutcher: "I would like to submit this proposal
in Western Colorado. I think that there has to be
some ground work before anything is done. I can't
control the e~otions of the people in our area. Cer-
,tainly there should be some kind of diplo~atic relations
that would be available and give the people an op-
portunity to sit down and express themselves and to
find out what they think the facts are, Or what the
facts are. That is what they say they never had 'an
opportunity to do."

M~. Williams: "I would like to add to what Mr. ~ipton
said. As Director of the Planning Commission, for the
last several years, I have had occasion to review past
history. The Planning Commission was established in
about 1935 and had many engaged in work. At about that
time, the Delaney resolution was adopted, which authori-
zed the transferral of water to Eastern Slope fro~
Western Slope. That broke the dead~ock between Bastern
and Western Slope. It was quite apparent that Colorado
needed an agency to devote its entire time to our water
resources. It seems to me that we are'down to this point;
The Western Slope wants to be assured of storage reser-
voirs, and is especially concerned with storage reservoirs,
and assurance of their share of the water to'develop industry, .
agriculture, and oil shale. I voted in favor of these
ten or eleven points h~re because I was trying to look at
this from an all-state viewpoint. I think this provision I
does show the storage provision. I think it is alright
myself. I am ready to take action and vote in favor of
these. If it can't be done today, I think we should
get the group from Western Colorado in here and get this
thing resolved. This would comply with the Delaney
resolution."