BOARD00361

• Board Meeting Date: 9/13/1945
• Description: Table of Contents and Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Minutes

this Board be and they are hereby instruoted to appear at any
hearing whioh may be held with re'lPeot to the above mentioned
matter, and to make clear the positien of the Board with
referenoe thereto, and partioularly as follows$

1. There is a present oi~ilization and agrioultural
and stook raising eoonomy whioh depends for its existence upon
the economical, full and cOntinuous use of all waters of the
Arkansas River whioh can possibly be made available, there being
constantly a greater demand for those waters in creating the
basio neoessities of life, than there are waters available to
supply that demand.

2. The oontinuous and serious shortages of water in the
Arkansas River have led to almost imterminable litigation between
Colorado and Kansas, whose differenoes are now sought to be oom-
posed by oompaot, and Commissioners have been appointed to work
out a system of reservoir releases fOr the equitable distribution
of the .oant supply of water, whioh, beoa~se of the shortages in-
vol~ed. will neoessarily be complioated and diffioult, without
the injection of the problem of attempting to preserve fish life
in a portieR of the reservoir,

3. The present aotual administration of the river, to-
gether with beth direot deorees, reservoir decrees and the new
and uncertain conditiens created by the presenoe of Caddoa Reser-
voir, presents administrative diffioulties which ought not to be
further oomplioated by an attempt t. provide oondi ti ons suitable
for fish life.

4. The relatively low elevation and the tendency of
the stream involved to carry excessive silt, tend to inorease
the diffioulty of oreating a, body of water at Caddoa Reservoir
suoh as would support gamo fish.

6. A fishing project atCaddoa would tend to be de-
struotive, in that it would create conditions in whioh excessive
silting and ultimate filling of the reservoir would ocour, leaving
a depth of water so slight as to be harmful to the oontinuation
of fish life, and destructive of the irrigation uses for the
reservoir.

5. Difficulties of fish oulture at Caddoa are suoh that
there does not appear to be any basis for assuming that a fishing
resort can be developed at Caddoa Reservoir, of suoh substantial
value as would be commensurate with the damage. to the agrioultural
and life stook economy whioh it supports.

7. Prior to the creation of Caddoa Reservoir there
was no fishing in the area because the stream involved oom-
pletely disappeared for long periods of time in nearly every
year, so that natural oonditions are not oonduoive to fish life
in the vicinity, and no existing recreational facilities ha~e
been destroyed by the reservoir.