BOARD00647

• Board Meeting Date: 8/15/1973
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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the national energy production of the United States. We consider
that as far as the state of Colorado is concerned, the greatest
potential development in the state is in the White River basin. That
will require a great amount of water resources. What we are faced
with was a decision as to whether or not the state should encourage
the removal of water from the White River in view of the tremendous
potential development in that area. The answer was very simple. We
concluded that it would be a foolish state policy to encourage the
removal of water from the White River.

"Mr._Stapleton: This is what we are voting on now?

Mr: Sparks: That's right.

Mr. Stapleton: It doesn't look like that to me at all. I didn't
focus on that. That is why I asked the question, What we ought to do?
If that's what we are going to do, we ought to have some discussion
about that. I thought what we were doing is just considering first
of,all the Flat Tops Wilderness area and thell we get another change
which is voluntary on our part. Now we say w e get into a
discussion of whether or not the White River should be diverted into
the Colorado River or not. And I didn't understand that to be an
agenda item at all.

Mr. Sparks: I think this was as clear as it could be put in our
memorandum which went out to the board. We pointed out these facts
that we thought it was a serious mistake on the part of the state of
Colorado to encourage and permit the exportation of water from the
White River. We went into these facts in that memorandum and that
was part and parcel of it. And that is a simple decision. It
doesn't involve personalities or companies. Should the state encour-
age the taking of water from the White River, or should the state
encourage the use of the water of the White River within the basin,
bearing in mind that there are two other things that are extremely
'1mportant to this decision? The White River is a small river. It
produces on the average only about a half a million acre-feet at
the state line. It traverses the Northern Ute Indian reservation.
It is the only source of water to that reservation. The federal
government has indicated that it will make substantial claims for
the Northern Ute Indian reservation. The state of Utah has an
interest in the river. In 1969, their Governor wrote to Governor
Love requesting that an interstate compact be entered into on the
White River. The oil shale deposits also extend into Utah. So the
demand upon the White River, in my opinion, and the opinion of the
staff, is that the development of the energy resources and for the
Indian lands in the area will far exceed the available water sup-
plies of the basin. That is the simple proposition.

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