BOARD01106

• Board Meeting Date: 2/3/1962
• Description: Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

I

were faced with a set of facts wherein
we knew great amounts of water were being
lost in the Closed Basin. So the most
logical place to look for water salvage
was the Closed Basin, the thought being
that if we could capture some amount of
water which was being used by evaporation
and transpiration, it would alleviate
conditions.

So, essentially the plan that has
been worked out over thsse several years
is to recapture or to salvage water which
is now a total waste by means of pumping
it into a main conveyance channel which
would eventually reach the Rio Grande
River some miles below Alamosa. The
Bureau of Reclamation will go into some
more detail in connection with that plan
but generally the plan contemplates the
salvage of approximately 100,000 acre-
feet of water annually from the Closed
Basin drainage.

We are convinced this can be done
from water which now goes entirely to
waste. It can be done, we are convinced,
without any interference with the existing
conditions. As a matter of fact, it will
improve eventually, improve the soil
conditions in the Closed Basin drain be-
cause, as you know, now there is no escape
for the salts which are constantly, year
after year, building up in that area and
which, of course, eventually will destroy
the fertility of all the soil in the
Closed Basin drain.

I

Now, we are well aware of the fears
that people have pertaining to pumping
operations in the valley. This is not new.
We haven't had a bill in the history of
this state or anywhere else in the United
States where people have not had fears
pertaining to the operation of the project.
It's the logical thing that we run into
with every project. But when looking and
analyzing the plan which has been presented,