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<br />0318 <br /> <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />1.1 Context and Purpose of the Social Assessment <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />A combination of severe water-related problems of <br /> <br /> <br />shortage and flooding have beset the South Platte River <br /> <br /> <br />Valley for more than fifty years, and during this period <br /> <br /> <br />numerous proposals for stabilizing water projects have <br /> <br /> <br />been considered. Following considerable public interest <br /> <br /> <br />in the 1950's in the development of an irrigation and flood <br /> <br /> <br />control project in the South Platte Valley, and subsequent <br /> <br /> <br />investigation, analysis, and pUblic hearings concerning <br /> <br /> <br />such a project during the 1960's, Congress authorized con- <br /> <br /> <br />struction of the Narrows Unit in its Act of August 28, 1970 <br /> <br /> <br />(PL 91-389). <br /> <br /> <br />However, prior to this authorizing legislation, the <br /> <br /> <br />Council on Environmental Quality, under the authority of <br /> <br /> <br />Public Law 91-190 enacted in 1969, had directed that all <br /> <br /> <br />Federal Agencies prepare detailed statements on proposed <br /> <br /> <br />actions which may significantly affect "the quality of the <br /> <br /> <br />human environment." The overall statement is to be concerned <br /> <br /> <br />with the ways in which alternative actions may have "both <br /> <br /> <br />the long- and short-range implications to man, his physical <br /> <br /> <br />and social surroundings, and to nature which should be evaluated <br /> <br /> <br />in order to avoid to the fullest extent practicable undesirable <br /> <br /> <br />consequences for the environment." Moreover, it states that <br /> <br /> <br />"Significant adverse effects on the quality of the human environ- <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />7 <br />