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-'1'111;1 'i~ - ,,- 3 Benefits (or water quality control will accrue from construction and operntion of the wntt.'f sah.age works, which cannot be assigned a monetary value. The quulity of water which will be delivered to the Rio Grande is well within the limits of the Public Health Service drinking wutef standards. The addition of water to the low flow of the ri\'er will add to the aspect."i of gerwrnl public health and esthetic values and will gerwrnlly improve the quality of the stream. It is belien'd that all functions of the proposed development would be in complinllce with quality regulations established by Executive Order ]\'0, 11288, Although Alamosll County is no longt'r designnt<>d IL<:i an economi- cally depress{.d urea, Conejos and Costilla Counties, which are adjacent to t.hl' projPcl area, uf(' so designtltt'd in llceordance with the Public 'Yorks /lnd Economic De\'elopmellt Act of 1965 (Public La\\.'- 89-136). TlU' lH'neflt.s that would derh'e from area rede\-clopment therefore wpre fl'cognizl'd in tlH' f'coJlomic analysis of the Division. Construction Hnd olH'rnt.!oll of the Di\'ision would provide substantial employment opportunitilC's to thf'se depressed counties by providing employment for seIlliskillt'd nTld unskilled labor. It is estimutt>d that RllIlual benefits of $80.000 would be rf'tllizf'd through these activities. The estimat.pd totul eonstructioll cost of the Closed Basin Division 011 the basis of Octol.ll'r 1968 prices, indcxpd to Jariuary 1969 prices, us shown in the pnclospd ~Iay 1970 reenlluution statement, is $14.931,000, which COIll.IHlf('S to IUl estimate of $8,470,000 in the .June 1965 r('Jlort. The estimated construction costs are tentutively allocated to water sulvnge ($13,492,000), fish und wildlife enhancement ($851000), llnd reerelltion ($588,000), Total Hllnunl olwration, mnintenance, IlIHl replncement c.osts arc ('stimah'd at $318,000 and af(1 t(mtutivdy ulloeutt'tl to water salvage ($2':>7,000), fish !lnd wildlift~ enhancement ($17,000), llnd recreation ($44,000) , The totnlnllnual benefits of the proposed development, based on a 100-year Jlt'Tiod of analysis, ure eVllluated t.o be $2,123,000 and the anllllul {1quivalent costs Ilre computed to be $993,000, This results in a rntio of t.otal benefits to co~t..<; of 2.14 to 1. A summary of the chang{'.s in ('osts and benefits resulting from the ~Iay 1970 leevaluation is attllched. Do\'clopment of the Closed Basin Division would obviously provide slIbstantial notional benefits. HO\nwer, llS indicated in the attached Region>>1 Director's r('port, the indi\'idunl bem1ficiaries cannot be reasonably id(-'ntifi{.d. Ddivpry of the 95,500 ncr:)-feet of salvaged water nnnually to the Rio Grando would contribute substantially t.o the alleviation of the eriticnl wliter shortages in the Rio Grande Basin which chronienlly prevail. This woultl tHHlbl(-' the State of Colorado to meet it..,;; commitmt'nts for watl'r delivery under thl:' Rio Grande compact to the States of XI~W ~fexiro llnd TpXflS. It wu:-; pstimated that approximllt.elv 45 vears woultl be required for Colorndo to achiove debit-free stat.lIs. After Colofndo hns nchien'd (If'bit-free status, there would be n requirement for 53,600 acre-f.'et of watl'r annuully to n1aintain such status under the tnms of tht' compuet. This would lel\\'c approximatel.y 41,900 llcre-(N't unnwdlv fot ll~e in Colorado. The June 1965 [{'port. indicates, nnt! we concur, that. the proposed wutt'r slllvll~e program would also tl.ssist the Federal Government in its water deliveries to ~Iexico under the 1906 treaty, an obligation tha.t