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. . . . Bonqy Dam is located on the South Fork of the Republican River near the little town of Hale, Colorado, about six miles west of the Colorado- Kansas State line. The dam, a major feature of the St. Francis unit of the Missouri River Basin Project, was designed by the Bureau of Reclama- tion as a DlUl tiple-purpose structure providing for flood control, irriga- tion, silt storage, and other benefits. Although the irrigation phase of the project was determined to be in conflict with existing agreements between the States of Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska governing the distri- bution and utilizll,tion of the waters of the Republican River and its tributaries, Congress appropriated funds for the construction of Bonny Dam primarily for flood control. Studies are currently in progress to deter- mine the most practicable plan for development of the irrigation poten- tialities without violating existing agreements. The project is situated in a semi-arid region of the Great Plains normally dificient in precipitation and subject to recurring drought and hot, dry, summer winds. The area is also subject to occasional storms of very great intensity which transform its normally quiescent streams into raging torrents of destruction. The dam was designed by the Bureau of Reclamation to retain these destructive flood waters for later release to water-starved lands downstream. Of the 175,000 acre-feet of storage capacity in the reservoir, 132,000 acre-feet are allocated to flood con- trol, with the remaining 43,000 reserved for irrigation and silt re- tentlon. In addition to the flood control and irrigatlon features, recrep.tior.al fa"j.liti('!s al:>:,~ad:' completed or to be ,~or.'s<;'ructed in the reser'ToJ.'.' e.;~ea }r, tt.e fat,-'.-.:-e will provide fishing, boat.ing, pi-:Jnicking, . 2497amPillg ar.':'!. ;J\';lmmJ.!'g in. an area. now sorely lacking in such advantages.