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<br />.000717 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Colorado River Storage Project. As is the case with the Animas- <br />La Plata, revenues specifically allocated to the State of Colorado <br />will be available during the repayment period to assist in proj- <br />ect repayment. Both of these projects are ready for construction <br />and repayment contracts have been executed. At the time they <br />were authorized, both projects demonstrated a favorable benefit- <br />cost ratio. However, both projects are among the latest victims <br />of the numbers games played by alleged economists and others. <br /> <br />In any event we are most certainly playing with new rules <br />in the water resources game, although we are not sure what the <br />rules may be from day to day. Even though these two projects <br />are sound as presently planned, potential alternatives exist <br />which could improve the benefit-cost ratios. We do not believe <br />that these two projects should be summarily terminated without <br />a fair hearing. We are therefore requesting funds to begin a <br />reformulation of the two projects. <br /> <br />5. Overland proiect. The Overland Dam and Reservoir in western <br />Colorado has been one of those declared unsafe as, the result of <br />the dam safety inspection program. The dam is located on public <br />land and must be reconstructed if its full capacity is to be <br />realized. The waters stored behind the dam are key to the eco- <br />nomic survival of a number of farm families and provide some <br />domestic water for the town of Hotchkiss, a community now <br />heavily impacted by recent coal mining development. <br /> <br />For several years, the Overland Ditch and Reservoir Company <br />has been struggling to get approval of a loan under the Small <br />Reclamation Project Act. That loan now has been approved at the <br />district level and has been transmitted to the proper officials <br />here in Washington. . I am advised by the Bureau of Reclamation <br />that there is a construction capability to the extent of $386,000 <br />for FY 1979, and we urge that loan funds in that amount be appro- <br />priated. The State of Colorado has appropriated the sum of <br />$850,000 to assist in the project construction. These funds will <br />be released with the initial federal appropriation. <br /> <br />. In addition to reclamation matters, I would like to advise the <br />subcommittee of a flood hazard in the Denver area about which the <br />State of Colorado is greatly concerned. A flood control dam, Kelly <br />Road Dam, constructed by the Corps of Engineers in 1954 on Lowry Air <br />Force Base is subject to overtopping and possible failure for major <br />flood events in excess of the 40-year' storm. The National Weather <br />Service has classified the flood potential for the floodplain below <br />the dam resulting from failure of the dam at 9 on a scale of 1 to 10, <br /> <br />-5- <br />