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<br />'i <br /> <br />;OOG~25 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />^ <br /> <br />Other similar projects are in the planning stage and will <br /> <br />be constructed with state and local funds. These projects indicate <br /> <br />the tremendous desire of the valley's citizens to improve the water <br /> <br />situation of the Rio Grande to the full extent of their financial <br /> <br /> <br />capability. The salvage projects already constructed and those planned <br /> <br /> <br />will make more water available. However. by themselves they will not <br /> <br /> <br />answer the total problem. The Closed Basin Project offers the only <br /> <br />ultimate solution. The project would be reclamation in its truest <br /> <br />sense. It would salvage water from a trap created by nature which <br /> <br />now consumes approximately 500.000 acre-feet of water annually through <br /> <br />evapotranspiration. <br /> <br />There have been fears that the proposed project would <br /> <br />adversely affect existing irrigation practices in the valley. We do <br /> <br />not believe these fears are well grounded. The Closed Basin Project <br /> <br />has been exhaustively studied and reviewed. In 1966 the State of <br /> <br /> <br />Colorado employed the nationally recognized engineering firm of <br /> <br /> <br />Woodward-Clyde-Sherard and Associates to again evaluate the project. <br /> <br /> <br />The report of that firm on the project was most favorable. In the <br /> <br /> <br />opinion of that firm the only ultimate solution to the problems of <br /> <br /> <br />the Rio Grande River was the construction of the Closed Basin Project. <br /> <br /> <br />At about the same time the State of Colorado entered into <br /> <br /> <br />a contract with the United States Geological Survey. under the terms <br /> <br /> <br />of which the state agreed to contribute approximately $250.000 <br /> <br />-8- <br />