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I I MR. STAPLETON: We have now, we can get back at through by two o'clock, arrangements. I think if we leave after one. So I think we will be We will now recess until 1:10. no luncheon ten minutes hopefully. (Luncheon recess.) MR. STAPLETON: We will call this meeting back to order, please. We will continue with the Director's Report. Larry, would you proceed with that? MR. SPARKS: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Board, I have already reported on SB 69, which will come up in the House next week. I think it looks extremely favorable for a larger and more continuing construc- tion program, which I think this state must have if it is to do any- thing with its water resources. I sent out a schedule of what we could do if the Legislature would appropriate 3 million dollars for the next ten years and how it would advance project construction. Under the present schedule, with Our present funding, for some of the projects the Board has already approved, we could not start construction on those until 1983. That is a ridicu- lous situation. Inflation between now and 1983 will increase the cost by 25 to 50 percent. These municipalities and others just can't wait that long. They will have to do something to take care of the very critical water problems today. Of particular concern is the fact that many of these small communities are experiencing considerable growth. While the numbers are not so great, a small community, with, say, 300 people, suddenly finding itself with 600 or 900 hundred people, which is a doubling or tripling of their present population. They cannot wait for four or five years before we start' construction of something to improve their systems. The Legis- lature and theGQvernorare fully aware of this and we are getting a great amount of support, both from the Governor and the'General Assembly. We have one project that we approved last year, the Yamcolo; and I believe John Fetcher has some word on that. We agreed to put in one million dollars for the Yamcolo Project. It will cost over 3 million dollars. The problem is where the other money comes from. MR. FETCHER: This project, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is located on the headwaters of the Yampa River, which flows north; and then it makes a westerly bend here at Steamboat Springs and then flows to the west. The project is actually in Garfield county, upon Forest Service property. The use for the water will basicaily be in three areas--I might add a fourth area--and I will explain them to you. One use will be primarily for the irrigators. There were several ranchers in this area last year that didn't put up a single bale of hay, simply because their water rights did not permit them to divert what water there ~as in the upper reaches of the Yampa River. As a result, all of their cattle had to be shipped out this winter. We are planning 3,000 acre-feet for the irri- gators out of a total storage of 8,000 acre-feet. -27-