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<br />surplus. This area is primarily a red-meat producing area, along <br />with some fresh foods and such things as that. Most of them are cow <br />and calf operators. I also feel that these people that grew up in <br />western Colorado will agree that agriculture has proven to be still <br />the backbone of western Colorado. <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />And another very important part of the West Divide is that it is the <br />nation's largest oil shale reserve. Perhaps the other gentlemen <br />covered that pretty much, but we still feel that it is very important <br />that we provide water to develop this whenever the time comes. We <br />don't know when, but we still feel that the board should keep this <br />in mind to have the project in readiness should this time occur. <br /> <br />We also have several beans in our beanie over there, not only oil <br />shale, but we have in our district the Rulison project. We don't <br />know what that will mean, but if they go ahead and develop that it <br />will mean more people in the area. And those people will need water <br />too for homes and such as that. <br /> <br />I might also mention at this time that the irrigation of lands in that <br />area is very adaptable to irrigation because the canal runs above <br />most of the valley. The valley is approximately forty miles long <br />and perhaps five to ten miles in width. This canal runs into the <br />upper end. It would be very adaptable to irrigationists. It would <br />not contribute a great deal to the salinity of the river. <br /> <br />One thing I would like to bring out at this time also is the recreation <br />aspect to our district. We have a great influx of hunters into the <br />area in the fall of the year and that sort of thing. And you hear a <br />lot nowdays about developing greenbelts. Well, this project would <br />develop a greenbelt five miles wide and forty miles long. And I <br />think now with the finishing of the Eisenhower Tunnel that a great <br />many of the eastern slope people would enjoy driving over and seeing <br />a nice greenbelt. And the West Divide would provide a lot of this. <br /> <br />It would also have a lot of recreation available with this project <br />such as boating, water skiing, fishing and hunting. We still have the <br />same problems as some of the people up in Wyoming do so far as the <br />big game. We furnish a lot of the winter feed for them and this <br />undoubtedly would furnish a great deal more. <br /> <br />I might like to mention too at this time that ou~ district is eon- <br />cerned about the appropriation of the advance planning funds for our <br />district. We have to protect our water rights over the years and our <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />-75- <br />