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<br />8th of June when I met with the Commissioner. <br /> <br />Well, here we are some three months later and still do not have an <br />executed contract. So we had to keep postponing this ground-breaking <br />ceremony pending the execution-of that contract. That, we think, will <br />be executed at 1:30 this afternoon in time for our ground-breaking <br />ceremony tomorrow. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />MR. FETCHER: Who has it now? Is it here? <br /> <br />MR. SPARKS: The contract is in hand, as I understand it. (Laughter) <br />We" didn't get any assurances of that until yesterday. It has been a <br />real cliff-hanger in trying to program this ground-breaking ceremony. <br /> <br />I might state that the delay has not been" the fault of the Bureau of <br />Reclamation. The Board and some of the people here may'recall that about <br />a year ago at a meeting in Montrose; I was mildly critical of the Bureau <br />(Laughter) and the delays occasioned on these various projects. But the <br />delay was not occasioned in this case by the Bureau of Reclamation. The <br />commissioner assured me, and he was entirely correct, that the Bureau of <br />Reclamation has been pressing to get all the final details of the contract <br />worked out. The delay was in' the Department of the Interior itself and <br />not in the Bureau of Reclamation. There were hangups about the Indian <br />allocation of water and various other'things that have almost driven us <br />wild. But the contract is now in hand, and we hope it will be executed <br />at 1:30 this afternoon. Everyone he~e is invited to that ceremony. <br />Immediately after the ceremony, we will make a brief tour of two farm <br />areas for a brie"fing'by two farmers there about the drought situation. <br /> <br />For the Dallas Creek Project, we are about to execute that contract after <br />many lengthy delays. I understand the people in the Tri-County area of <br />Ouray, Montrose, and Delta are also planning a big celebration sometime <br />next month to commemorate the start on that project. <br /> <br />So at least on these two projects, it appears that we finally are actually <br />about to start construction. You will see tomorrow how much the people <br />of this area are enthused. I estimated a'crowd of-a thousand, and they <br />now tell me they estimate a crowd of 3,000. They are planning a bar- <br />beque for 4,000. In any event, the people here and in the Tri-County <br />area north of here are extremely excited about their projects. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />I want to commend Dave and his staff for the expeditious way they have <br />moved since" our meeting in Montrose a year ago. <br /> <br />Now, Dave, I want to pin you down on a couple of questions the Governor's <br />office has sent to me. One is on the Yellow Jacket Project. There are <br />people up there who have written the Governor stating that the Yellow <br />Jacket Project has been drastically scaled down as far as the oil shale <br />water is concerned. The communication stated that the Bureau is planning <br /> <br />-10- <br />