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COLORADO ~~""" F''I;: j F"-/e ~if Saturday, March 13, 1999 . 23,'\. ~..,.,. ~ DENVER A DEBT-FREE LIFE EXTOLLED Michael Erbeck, a freelance fi- nancial adviser, gave up his credit cards - and his career as a chemist at a nuclear power plant - to preach the virtues of living on cash. In a three-hour seminar, Erbeck says he can help people devise a plan to eliminate debt, including home mortgage, operate entirely on, cash and still build for retirement. STORY, 24A THE DENVER Post ~;l Dam d~lDolition_ hits stumbling blocks By Nancy Lofholm DanverPostStaffWr~er GRAND JUNCTION - Building a dam can be a monstrous under- taking, with all the bureaucratic red tape, the monumental costs and environmental tug-ai-war. Tearing a tiny one down can be about as tough. The U.8. Bureau of Reclamation wants to remove a century-old, 8- foot-high dam on the Colorado Riv- er near Palisade -" a dam that hasn't been used for more than 75 years. But the federal agency has run into a series of snags. A hydropower property claim, possible landslides and water-sup- ply issues all stand in the way of the bureau's efforts to tear down the Price..stubb Dam so that two endangered fish species, the razor. back sucker and the pike minnow (formerly caBed the squawfish), can move upstream to traditional habitat that extends about 60 miles to Rifle, said Brent UHenberg, the bureau's Grand Junction chief of environmental resources. The dam was built to supply wa- ter to the east end of the' Grand Valley at the turn of the century but was abandoned when the High~ line canal was built in the 1920s. For years, recreational boaters who can't use that stretch of the Colorado have pressured the bu- reau to remove the dam. But the biggest stumbling block to the dam's removal is a Telluride man's plan to develop hydropower from the Price-Stubb. Eric Jacobsen, a private hydro- . power developer, filed for a permit in 1992 from the Federal -Energy Regulatory Commission to install a hydropower generator on the dam. His permit was approved before the razorback sucker was listed as an endangered species, so he had to file an amended permit. The statilS of his permit is now in question. "Until we figure out if Mr. Ja- cobsen has a valid property inter- est, we can't do anything. We've . been waiting for months to find this out from the commission. It's very frustrating," Uilenberg said. Another concern, which may be easier to remedy, is that removal of the dam wi!! leave the backup pumping system for Grand Valley drinking water high and dry. ute Water, which serves 60,000 resi,. dents of the valley, has a pumping station that can pull the water from the river above the dam. Th.e station is used in emergencies and is currently being used to deliver water while the company builds f\ new water line from Grand June.. tion to the Grand Mesa, the prima- ry source of Grand Valley Water. Ute water needs to use the PUDlp station for most of the next three years while the new line is com.. pleted. Ute officials have expressed Please see DAM on 25.A Series of obstacles delaying. Price-Stubb Dam demolition removal. Studies showed that re- moving the dam shouldn't affect the slide area above railroad tracks and the river, but the bu- reau is planning to install some monitoring equipment in the hill- side if the dam comes down. In the event that the dam can't . be torn down, the bureau has two other options. One would be to I notch the dam so fish could swim : .through. The other would be to build a fish ladder over the dam. Uilenberg said removal would be the _cheapest and most effective op- tion. DAM from Page 23A alarm about losing their backup and said it would cost $10 million to build a new station, but Uilen- berg said the bureau can fix that. by running a pipeline through an existing corridor under Interstate 70. The diversion would cost $100,000 to $200,000, and Uilen- berg said the bureau would pick up the tab. The bureau has also had to foot the bill for geological studies of an active slide area along the river ~at could be affected by the dam: