BOARD00647

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

I might say to you, too, that I would like to call your attention to
Section ll32(d) (7) of the Wilderness Act. It is mentioned in my
letter to the report, which created these and other wilderness areas.
And this specifically provides, and I am quoting, "nothing in this
Chapter shall constitute an expressed or implied claim or denial on
the part of the federal government as to exemption from state water I
laws." In short, the Wilderness Area was not designed to deal with
the beneficial uses to which wate: cou7d b~ applied udnder sta~e laws. .
And therefore, the Act as it now ~s be~ng ~mplemente , recogn~zes
the necessity for the preferential uses for many of the resources
that are involved in Wilderness Areas.

The Act also defines a "Wilderness" in paragraph ll3l(c) as an area
which "contains ecological, geological, other features of scientific,
educational, scenic or historic value." The recommendation of the
professional staffs at the federal agencies did not find any of these
to exist with respect to the "Meadows" area. And I don't believe
the memorandum from the staff of this commission specifically finds
that any of these existed.

The memorandum appears to be a sort of a qualitative comparison of
the proposal for the use of the waters which could be impounded at
the Meadows as proposed by Rocky Mountain Power Company on one hand,
and the Colorado River Water Conservation District on the other hand.
I think it is of particular note that although they did it some
fifteen, twenty years later, the Colorado River Water Conservation
District proposed what is called the Flat Tops project which uses
almost the identical types of engineering concepts, the identical
site, the identical water, in their projection as was used by Rocky
Mountain Power Company. And therefore we have in effect what is a
top filing in terms of the engineering aspects of this project. Also,
a top filing in terms of the water rights with respect to the proj-
ect.

I know that in the information that was developed by the Colorado
River Water Conservation District that they spent much time on their
plans for bringing the water to the Piceance basin or the areas in
which the water could be used after it had served its power-producing
purposes, could then be used for the development of oil shale and
subsequently coal gasification and the other uses which are now pro- I
posed for the water. But I do call your attention to the fact that
a complete pipeline and system for transporting the water after it
has served its power-producing functions at the Meadows to the head
of the Piceance basin is completely engineered by Rocky Mountain Power
Company and there is a reservoir located at the head of the Piceance
basin so that the water might be effectively stored there together
with some other water which Rocky Mountain Power Company or other

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