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I I MR. RINCKEL: Now, the negative assessment is only complete on stage 1. We plan to complete a draft and a final EIS on the rest. MR. STAPLETON: DO any members of the audience have any questions of the Upper Colorado Region? (NO response.) If not, thank you very much. Larry Nelson will report on the Lower Missouri Region. Lar~y. MR. NELSON: Thank you very much. Joe Hall was very sorry he couldn't be here today to report personally. He received another adverse judicial decision on one of his projects in Nebraska, and he was faced with the situation of revising testimony that he was going to present to the Senate Appropriations COmmittee hearing tomorrow. He is tied up with that today. What I would like to do is just briefly describe some of the construction activities in the Lower Missouri> Region and then some of our planning activities as well. I will try to limit the number of budget numbers, since I see some of the numbers are already in the memorandum you have on agenda item 2. As has been the case the past several years, most of Reclamation's construction activities in the Lower Missouri Region are centered around the Frying Pan-Arkansas Project. The project is designed to divert water from the Western Slope to the Eastern Slope, and is currently 64 percent complete. We finished project features like the Boustead Tunnel and the Pueblo Dam and Reservoir, Ruedi, Sugarloaf, Turquoise, Meadows Conduit, Half Mountain Diversion Dam. This year, we will continue work on Hunter Tunnel, South Fork, Chapman, Carter, and other diversion facilities on the West Slope of the collec- tion system. The first stage of the Mt. Elbert Power Plant is scheduled to be completed, as well as the land acquisition for the Fountain Valley Conduit this year. We will continue work on Twin Lakes Dam, Cunningham Conduit, Morman Conduit, and a fish hatchery and some of the recreation facilities associated with the Pueblo Reservoir. . This year we had 22 million dollars for the project. Next year it will be 24.7. It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded late this year on the Fountain Valley Conduit. Also additional power from the Mt. Elbert Pump Storage Power Plant late this fall, and the second unit is scheduled to come on line May 1981. The other major construction activity concerns the Narrows Project. And here we must report, of course, there is no allotted funds for 1979 and none requested for '80. The project office is closed. The funds that were appropriated in prior years are being used to administer the lands. We are looking at the possibility of additional studies in the South Platte Basin, working locally with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The suit that was filed under NEPA is still in court. A related activity not directly under our program is the enlargement of -5-