BOARD02203

• Board Meeting Date: 3/20/1975
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

$600 million, $800 million, a billion dollars in a plant, and have the
water rights suddenly called out by the owner of a high line ditch.
Senior reclamation project rights With federally designed and con-
structed upstream storage reservoirs will provide and assure such a
supply. The White River's average flow at the Utah state line is half
a million acre-feet per year. Present agricultural consumptive use is -
I'll say - around 35,000 acre-feet per year.

Now, by the construction of upstream reservoirs you get many benefits,
and amongst them are these:

The early senior water rights would not be affected but remain intact.

If you have increased municipal or domestic rights for an increase in
population associated with either normal community growth, or the rapid
growth associated with shale development, there is an assured industrial
supply. And, most important to the farmers and ranchers who have kept
the rights alive during the struggle with the Division of Wildlife,
you have an increased irrigation supply with an improved delivery system.

Now, with state participation we need not take one acre out of irrigation
for oil shale. Without a coherent, uniform support for these projects.
land must be taken out of irrigation.

The third point is to the concern of the Northwest Water Council. This
meeting is a happy one for Western Colorado. After many years of
anguish and work the commencement of many varied projects seems closer.
The Board has been thanked at least once this morning for making appro-
priation requests possible through the inclusion of the proj ect on the
priority list of this Board.

The people of Northwest Colorado do not share this joy, we find no place
at the table set for us. There has seldom been a place set by this
Board for full participation in this banquet for Northwest Colorado.
Yellow Jacket, for example, is not mentioned on your agenda except, as
you have indicated, maybe 'others". Lower Yampa is mentioned for
discussion. A lot of the blame and fault for this lies with the people
of Northwest Colorado, and we recognize it and don't make light of the
fact that the end result is the same.

The avoidance of the relationship of water and mineral development in
Colorado has gone on too long. The mischief of your priority lists -
which seldom have been nominated as priority lists, but which have all
too quickly been understood to be priority lists - deserves the attention
of the Board.

In 1958 I traveled to Alamosa to tell you of a startling finding at
the new dee~ drilling in the Piceance Basin that more than 90 percent
of Colorado s rich oil shales were in the drainage of the White River.
Since then the course of the oil shale has had a radical change, has
taken a radical turn, but the policy of this Board and the priority
lists in public have not taken such a turn or change.

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