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<br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Mesa, and a wildlife habitat development plan on upper and lower <br />Fruitland Mesa. This habitat plan would be the use of approximately <br />6,000 tD 7,000 acres of public domain that has already been withdrawn <br />for project purposes. <br /> <br />Secondly, a new farm unit on the west end of the project lands on upper <br />Fruitland Mesa would be made available for wildlife management purposes. <br />The proposed unit would consist of approximately 400 acres of which <br />approximately one-half would be irrigable, and would be provided water <br />through the Fruitland Mesa project. <br /> <br />And thirdly, an overall big game management plan would be coordinated <br />and developed with the Bureau of Land Management. <br /> <br />This productive hay field on lDwer Fruitland Mesa is an example of what <br />can happen as a result of an adequate water supply throughout the <br />irrigation season. The increas~d water supply of the project is <br />expected to result in an increase in gross farm income of abDut <br />$2,500,000 annually. <br /> <br />The financial obligation of the Fruitland Mesa Water Conservancy Dis- <br />trict wDu1d include $73,500 in an annual repayment commitment and <br />$110,000 estimated as an annual operation and maintenance cost. Ad <br />valorem taxes would amount to $2,300 annually. The total repayment <br />would extend over fifty years and would total $3,790,000. <br /> <br />The project is supported by the Fruitland Mesa Water Conservancy Dis- <br />trict ,and a repayment contract has been signed. <br /> <br />Funding for'project construction for the last fiscal year was $957,000, <br />with $150,000 for the transitional quarter of July, August and September <br />of this year. Our budget for FY 1977 contains $3,000,000 to continue - <br />construction. <br /> <br />Shown here is our anticipated schedule for the completion of the neces- <br />sary events leading to the first major contract fDr project construction. <br />I will take a minute to .go over those. <br /> <br />No.1, the repayment contract was signed and validated and accepted in <br />1969. We anticipate filing the draft envirornnenta1 statement with the <br />Council on Environmental Quality in September, 1976, with a public' <br />hearing in the project area in October, 1976, with the final environ- <br />mental statement filed with the Council of Environmental Quality in <br />March of 1977, with initiation of construction in June of 1977. This <br />initiation would cDnsist of purchase of right-of-way and construction <br />of the access road to Soap Park Dam and Milly K. Goodwin Lake, with the <br />award of one of the major construction contracts, the Black Mesa Tunnel, <br />in September of 1977. <br /> <br />That completes the review 'and status of two construction projects. I'll <br />now turn the podium over to Mr. Lee Larson who's head of the plan <br />formulation branch and is also the team leader for the Uncompahgre <br />Improvement project. He would like to spend a little time in bringing <br />you up to date on that. <br /> <br />-7- <br />