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<br />-:;,:7.$..f><'"':t-~ " <br /> <br />:,:r"" <br /> <br />o...;C;2,:,.o~";;:;. <br />~.o;;;~.:,. <br /> <br />L~"~::~'.~:;~~~~~-ii.-~/~~;::; <br /> <br />~", <br /> <br />,- <br /> <br />.,~'! <br /> <br />PUBLIC HEARING <br /> <br />HELD AT <br /> <br />MONTE. VISTA, COLO.., <br /> <br />OCT. 17, 1938, <br /> <br />RE: IMPROVEMENT OF THE RIO GRANDE RIVER ABOVE THE COWRADO' NEW l.IEXICO <br />BOUllDARY LINE IN THE INTEREST OF F;1pOD CONTROL. <br /> <br />Col. Besson: The meeting will p1e;S:se come to order.. This hearing <br />is being held for the purpose of enabling all interested parties to pre- <br />sent their views as to what local interests desire in the way of improve- <br />ments for flood control and allied purposes. on the Upper Rio Grande' River <br />in Colorado. (Notice of hearing, and list of names to whom the notice <br />was sent, is attached heretp and 'marked Exhibit 1.) <br />Mr. Corlett will handle thepre.seritations. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />, <br />Mr. George M. Corlett, Attonney for the Rio Grande Water Users <br />Association, the Rio Grande Canal Water Users Association, etc. '(See <br />his brief attached): I t~lked to Mr. Ralph L. Carr, who represents the <br />people on the Conejos River .an<i who is a Candidate for. 'Governor this <br />year, and he said he will be here, later on but he asked me to call on the <br />men from the Conejos River area and-to take care of them until he gets here. <br /> <br />Col. Besson: We will be ,glad to hear from Mr. Carr when he appears. <br /> <br />Mr. Corlett: We have prepared a number of briefs and statements <br />which are more or less general. .We have a number of questionnaires that <br />have been circulated as far as possible, giving specific items of damage, <br />and if you approve, Colonel, we will proceed with these general state- <br />ments and then call certain of those who have made the statements and <br />then we will present oral statements of some others who have been unable <br />to prepare statements. <br />I have here a statement whieh I have prepared and which is the general <br />past history of the Rio Grande and my observations in connection with <br />the administration of water here, over a period of 35 years. ,I have been <br />very close ly connected with this water problem and with the administration <br />of the waters for 35 years. I have represented as attorney four-fifths <br />of the water users on the Rio Grande. For the record I might say that <br />this statement of mino explains the original development of water rights <br />on the Rio Grande in ColoradO, starting with the period of 1856 up to <br />the present time. The principal amount of the water rights were reveloped <br />from 1874 to 1885; that was a very wet cycle and shortly after that we had <br />what is knO'VTI as a dry cycle, with seasonal shortages. ~n 1896 a contro- <br />versy developed between Colorado, New Mexico, Old Mexico and Texas which <br />resulted in an embargo against the construction of reservoir works in <br />Colorado. This embargo was maintained from 1896 to 1925, with three <br />exceptions. With those exceptions, :and a few small reservoirs, there have <br />been no reservoirs developed since betwoen 1874 and 1885. There has been <br />an attempt to use the Rio Grande reserVoir for flood control purposes. <br />with bad results. This last ysar, and I bo1ieve others here will sub- <br />stantiate this statement, there wore 5.000 acre foot withheld at the <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />---ij <br />" -j <br />.,1 <br /> <br />.. <br />