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<br />determination to get the Dallas Creek project constructed. <br />If there is any humor in holding this hearing on April Fool's Day, <br />that humor is not appreciated either by me or any of the people of <br />Colorado who have dedicated many years of their lives to bringing this <br />project to reality. Twenty years ago this year, the people of the <br />Uncompahgre Valley organized the Tri-County Water Conservancy District <br />to act as the sponsoring and contractual agency for the Dallas Creek <br />project. The project was authorized for feasibility investigation in <br />the Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956 and it was subsequently <br />authorized for construction by the United States Congress in 1968. <br />To date, Congress has appropriated some eight million dollars for the <br />project and it is now in a construction status. Over five million <br />dollars have been expended from state and local sources to further the <br />project purposes. It is time that this grim travesty of so-called <br />executive review be terminated and project construction be continued. <br />The Uncompahgre Valley is one of the major agricultural areas of <br />the State of Colorado. A tremendous diversity of crops are grown in <br />this area ranging from fruits to livestock feeds. No new lands would <br />be placed under cultivation, but critical shortages of late season water <br />would largely be eliminated by the Dallas Creek project. In addition <br />to such irrigation needs, the available water supply for the area's <br />municipalities has been stretched to the limit and water rationing in <br />the area is a common practice. <br />Throughout the years, most of the rural residents between Delta <br />and Montrose have been hauling their domestic water supplies by truck. <br />After Congress authorized the Dallas Creek project, the people of the <br />Uncompahgre Valley approved a bond issue to construct a rural water <br /> <br />-4- <br /> <br />2551 <br />