BOARD00374

• Board Meeting Date: 9/30/1957
• Description: Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

7'72

Fishing.

The elevation of the proposed reservoir is high enough'. to
provide fine waters for rainbow trout. It is also at a low
enough elevation for catfish and white fish or -river salmon-
which are now caught there, weighing up to 25 pounds, 48 inches
in length.

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Wild Life.

Deer, beaver, duck and geese abound in this area. The
canyons would provide excellent nesting grounds for waterfowl.

No Resistance.

An extensive survey among the citizens of Moffat county,
including those persons whose property would be inundated by
water, discloses that there would be no local protest to the
construction of the Juniper mountain dam. One cattleman who
has large holdings in the reservoir basin said: -I would hate
to have all my holdings under water but realize that great
benefits would come to all of Moffat county by construction of
the Juniper dam. I would not be selfish enough to oppose the
project."

Repayment.

A statement by the Bureau of Reclamation is to the effect
that repayment from irrigation alone in the Juniper project is 21
per cent. T~e average of repayment in the Upper Colorado Projects
is only 12 per cent.

Edi torial.

Measured against other similar dam projects on the Colorado
river the Juniper dam is one which has not received the attention
which its possibilities justify.

Preliminary surveys indicate that its agricultural poten-
tials would repay 22 per cent of the cost. This is far above
the average agricultural return from other Colorado river pro-
jects which have been given a higher priority.

Juniper dam could well be used to provide storage for a
large volume of water, the amount depending on the height of
the dam. That water could be used for hydroelectric energy as
it is released to comply with stream flow contracts.

One of the good things about the Juniper mountain dam
project is that it will have little or no opposition in the
area where it is to be built.

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