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" .' OD03~5 -5- RECOMMENDATIONS OF TIlE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SOUTHVlESTERN WATER CONSERVATION f'ISTRICT TO TIlE COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD RELA:IIiiE TO TiI~ m;PORT OF Tii1: REGLAi.lA nON SERVICE oF TIlE UNI'I'EfJ Sl'ATES.~. -~ ----- At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Southwestern Water Conserva- tion District the matter of the recommendations to be made to the Colorado Water Conservation Board concernill{t the report' of the Reclamation Service to the Congress of the United States came up for discussion. All members of the Board were pres- ent, but some members had not had full opportunity to examine the proposed report, and all felt their suggestions should relate to the area included in their own district. The general plan of developing liquidating proj~cts first, and out of the revenues derived therefrom to assist various participating projects met with the ',manimous approval of the Board. The general plan of the Reclamation Service to first install and develop the Echo Park and Curecanti Projects in Colorado appears logical and meets with the approval of this Board. l.t is the feeling of this Drard that as soon as power projects are put in operation, the power developed Rhould first be used in Colorado to the greatest extent possible, and especially tihould such power be reserved for use by plants erected near to the place where generated. This means the greatest possible saving in cost, and also means a Statewide development instead of a localized one. The Board further believes that as soon as the pmver projects have reached a certain stage of development, a portion of the net revenues derived therefrom should immediately be diverted to the investigation and study of the development, conservation and ,utilization of the waters, of the Upper Colora~o River Basin, and to that end recommends' ,the 'creation of a special fund to which shall be transferred a proper proportion of the net revenues derived from Upper Colorado River liquidat- ing projects, known as the Colorado River Storage Project, to be used for the'pur- poses stated--in accordance with the recommendations heretofore made by the Re- g;.onal Director and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. If these investi- . '. " '..- . . .. . - ... ga~~ons and ~tudies are .to be delayed until all ~en liquidating'projects are co~~ ple~ed, it will mean such a long delay, that few people now,li~ing wi+l see the completion of this work. ..' ." , " , ., r ~ .' ..... . ~ The Board further believes that it is illogic'al and unnecessary to divert' water from the Western 'Slope 'of Colorado to the EasterIi Slope at enormous expense, until ail available lands are irrigated on the VTestern Slope. Many of these lands under the proposed projects now,contemplated are already partially developed, and thousands' of acres of'feJ:.tile land can 'be made productive by the application 6f" waters available :i.~ the near vicinity of 'these lands; and it 'seeinsuseless abd' fooiish 'to . spend "hundreds of millions of dollars 'to ,take this water to di~tant: "reaa of development on the othe'r sicklof the mountain range; Among the, partici';' pating,projects we especially recommend for the' consideration of your Board what is ~~own as the Pine River Extension Project, the Florida 'Water Conservation District Project and recommend that the La Plata ~onservancy 'Project 'be ~einstated as being worthy, of the most serious consideration.., This will benefit a large nUDib,er Qf people l\W) hav~alrea.dy Spent a great amoun,t of mone~' in improving their l!l11ds and ,', - .,'" ':."