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002875 In the Vega Reservoir area, shallow slides have frequently impacted county roads, creating high annual maintenance requirements, and threatening the access to a State Recreation Area at the reservoir. A number of vacation homes at the lake have been damaged or destroyed in the more frequent activity since 1980. Although the threat of form/fail dams from landslides into Plateau Creek is relatively low, the downstream Town of Collbran, in cooperation with the County Sheriff and County Emergency Management Agency, has completed a warning and evacuation plan for potential landslide/flash flood scenarios. County Planners are exploring a number of mitigation alternatives, including redesignation of the zoning along hazardous stretches of Plateau Creek to "no-build". The County has also pursued returning the road to the state, since it provides the only access to the recreation area and the state is better able to protect and maintain it. Eagle County: As indicated in the LEOP Landslide Annex, landslide problems in Eagle County are not limited to Dowd's Junction, although this slide complex has been thoroughly studied and gained the attention of state government. The perception of the situation locally is that solutions to the problems at Dowd's Junction are beyond the scope of local, or even state capabilities. The findings in the Governor's Task Force Report generally support this perception. For this reason, and because mostly federal lands are involved and the county's staff is relatively small, County Planners have not concentrated on land use issues in the area. The County Emergency Management office, however,. has been very active in developing and exercising warning and evacuation plans of county and municipal governments. Although Eagle County has exhibited strong capabilities in the area of emergency management, effective mitigation solutions to the problems at Dowd's Junction will require the full attention of state and federal government agencies with funding, resources, or expertise in this area. The challenge at Dowd's Junction is a clear "pay now or pay later" proposition, and post-disaster recovery costs are sure to be overwhelming. At Red Cliff, an equally serious threat to life exists for the residents of at least 14 homes located directly beneath the extremely unstable slopes surrounding the town to the north. Although an early warning system and some structural protection is currently in place, long-term solutions to this - 90 -