BOARD01567

• Board Meeting Date: 5/1/1975
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

underground water available and factors which might limit the extent to
which such waters may be utilized to meet the requirements of the proj-
ect. Accordingly, we have thus. far pursued both ground water and surface
water systems with the'realization that both will have to be implemented
if we reach ultimate development. The rate of development of each system
will vary with later studies and actual findings, and more basically with
the actual development of the oil shale resource., I

The March 1, 1975 status of our water supply acquisition program was
reported to the area oil shale supervisor of the United States Geological
Survey. Copies of this report are available from the area oil shale
superVisor's office here in Grand Junction. We can summarize the develop-
ments to date as follows:

A reservoir right-of-way application to the BLM was made in February,
1974. No action has been taken on this pending completion of studies by
Rio Blanco to define the scheduled development of the reservoir.

Gulf and Standard were issued a conditional storage decree for the Yellow
Creek Reservoir in July, 1974.

In December, 1974, we filed an application for ground water use with the
Colorado Division 5 Water Court. Pre-trial hearings are scheduled on
June 13 and July 11, 1975.

In December, 1974, Gulf and Standard filed an application with the Colo-
rado Divisoon 5 Water Court for a diversion of 300 cubic feet per second
flow from the White River to a proposed off-channel Yellow Creek Reser-
voir.

On April 15, 1975, we signed an option agreement with the Rocky Mountain
Power Company to acquire a right to investigate and purchase, if con-
ditions can be met, their industrial conditional water decrees on the
upper part of the South Fork of the White River.

A change proceeding was submitted on April 30, 1975 to change the point
of diversion of the RMPCO water rights to our point of diversion on the
White River near Yellow Creek.

Well permit applications for the wells foreseen in our ground water
applications are being prepared for submission to the state engineer in
the near future.

You will note we have avoided any discussions of the legal aspects of
these water rights. Many of these legal issues are presented for I
judicial determination in the proceedings which I have just enumerated
and which are now pending. It would therefore be inappropriate for us
to comment on or discuss any of these issues at this time.

We will now answer any questions you may have.

Mr. Stapleton: Thank you very much, Mr. Berry. If the members of the
Utah board have any questions, we would be delighted to have those. As

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