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<br />justification for construction of this Hoodway is a border,line proposi- <br />tion, since the ratio of annual charges to annual benefit. is 1:0.99; <br />however, the district engineer, after giving due weight to the urban <br />character and high property values in the areas that would he pro- <br />teoted by the Hoodway, and..also to' all other benefits of an intangible <br />nature, came to the oonclusion that the project was justified and <br />accordingly recommcnded its construction. <br />5. I concur in the findings of the district engineer hoth as to the <br />effectiveness of the proposcd Hoodway as a means of controlling Hoods <br />in Trinidad and also as to his evaluation of the Hood losses that will <br />be prcventcd thereby. I further concur that the invoiceable benefits <br />alone are not a true'measure of the ,worth of ,the required"improve- <br />ments, since it i~ quite reasonable to <;xpect t~at a co~siderab!e per- <br />ccntage of thc direct Hood damages WIll be missed or ImpractICal to <br />dctormine in a city of this size. Furthermore, it is almost impossible <br />,to ov"luate in terms of d,ollars and cents the indirect effects of floods <br />that causo suspension of normal business activities, or which inter- <br />fere with intorstate commerce of importance to the national welfare as <br />a rcsult of damage to transcontinental rail and road facilities. Con- <br />scquentl;\" when these intangible but nonethele~s ipos~ti.ve benofits <br />"re credited to the proposed Hoodway, and when III additIOn account <br />is taken of the break"down of sanitary conditions and the possibility of <br />loss of human life in a crowded urban area, the economic attractive- <br />ness of this projected channel improvement is very appreciably <br />enhanced. <br />6. In view of the foregoing, ,I therefore recommend that the <br />Wi1itcd'$,to;,tes eonstruct,the.. floodwayfor the protectionoll1i;iliidad, <br />Colo.,' at an cstimatcd cost to the Federal Gover11lllent of $909,000; <br />provided that local interests shall not only meet the prescribed <br />, requiremcnts of local cooperation, but shall also participate in the <br />direct costs of construction, all substantially as set forth in the report <br />of the district engineer; and provided further that the State of Colo, <br />rado shall, through the enactment of appropriate legislation if neees- <br />sllry, insure' that the construction of bridges or other-works which <br />might adversely affect, the Hood,earrying capacity of the 'channel of <br />the Purgatoire River through the, city' of Trinidad will not.. be per- <br />mitted. .. <br />'R. R. N'JiJYLA"!'O, <br />Oolsnel,'(J6rps qtEngineers, <br />Division Eiigi1~eer; <br /> <br />o <br />