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<br />conservation policy nor authority to require the <br />implementation of water conserving measures. <br /> <br />First full paragraph, page 82: This writeup, beginning on <br />page 81, discusses the alternative entitled "Future <br />Condition - Additional Surface Water Development." <br />The statement is made that "fully depleting the Cache <br />la poudre River results in 80,400 acre-feet/year being <br />consumptively used along the Front Range of Colorado." <br />This statement needs clarification. According to <br />previous studies completed by the Bureau on the Cache <br />la poudre Unit, surplus flows during the 1947-1960 <br />period, considering daily operations on the river and <br />downstream rights, averaged only 24,500 acre-feet per <br />year. How can consumption, then, be increased by <br />80,400 acre-feet per year? <br /> <br />Second paragraph, page 84: The statement is made that "If <br />the flows at Julesburg approach the compact limits, an <br />additional 222,500 acre-feet can be used in Colorado." <br />We suggest that the source of data for this conclusion <br />be identified. This conclusion is at variance with <br />the conclusions of other studies, which show larger <br />amounts of water to be available to Colorado. <br /> <br />Table 22, page 100: This table summarizes annual values of <br />surface water development by state. If we interpret <br />the table correctly, 30,150 acres of new irrigated <br />land would be added in Colorado. We question this <br />assumption in view of the fact that irrigated acreage <br />in the South Platte River Basin has been decreasing, <br />primarily as a result of the conversion of irrigated <br />land and water rights to urban and industrial uses. <br /> <br />Table 23, page 104: We have difficulty reconciling this <br />table with Table 22. Table 23 shows an increase in <br />M&I water supplies of 45,300 acre-feet in Colorado. <br />We bel ieve that any increase in M&I water supplies in <br />the South Platte Basin in Colorado would be derived <br />almost entirely from additional transmountain <br />diversions or transfers of irrigation water to new <br />M&I uses. <br /> <br />Page 113, "Streamflow Requirements for Habitat Maintenance":: <br />This section analyzes two streamflow alternatives to <br />maintain habitat conditions from below Overton to <br />Grand Island, Nebraska. In both of these <br />alternatives, it is assumed that so-called habitat <br />maintenance flows would and could be generated by <br />releases from Lake McConaughy, the closest existing <br />source of a large amount of stored water. As the <br />report notes, this facility is fully utilized for <br /> <br />-4- <br />