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The Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District is the Legal Agency for the Fryingpan- Arkansas Project. having entered into a Contract with the United States on January 21, 1965. whereby the District would repay, with interest, the assigned re- imbursable CQsts of the completed Project. As such, its Board of Directors has a primary responsibility to see the Project completed at the earliest possible date, to keep the final cost to a minimum, and have a Water Management Project which will accomplish those things authorized by the Congress in 1962. The members of the Board of Directors carefully reviewed the Budget submitted to the Congress by President Nixon. and after consulting with represen- tatives from ()ther Water Organizations throughout the United States, adopted a Statement requesting the Congress to increase the appropriation by $1,300,000. It was determined absolutely essential that $300,000 be added to commence construction on the Second and Final Phase of the Hunter Tunnel System, which would complete the entire Southside Collection System, and $1,000,000 to start construction on the Water and Sewer Svstems for the recreation areas at Pueblo Reservoi;. It is expected limited recreation use will be permitted on Pueblo Reservoir in 1975, and, as was the case at Turquoise Lake, the heavy use on a daily basis without adequate sanitary facilities. will create a serious and long lasting problem. Supporting testimony was adopted by the Board, and presented before the Arkansas River Basin Inter- state Committee at their Annual Meeting in March, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, fOT consideration and adoption. The Arkansas River Basin Interstate Committee con- sists of five representatives from the States of Arkan- sas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado, each of whom was appointed by the Governor of the reo spective State. A single statement supporting those Projects approved was then prepared. and presented before the Subcommittees of the U. S. Senate and U. S. House bv Mr. Charles L. Thomson, General Manager Southea;tern Colorado Water Conservancy District, who was elected Chairman of the Arkansas River Basin Interstate Committee for the years 1974 and 1975. Support for the appropriation was also obtained froIll the Water Resouces Congress and the National Water Resources Association. Congress subsequently appro. priated the additional $1.3 million, and the Budget was signed into Law in October 1974 by President Gerald Ford. Severe National economic problems in the later part of the year necessitated the withholding of part of the additional funds until after January 1975. Thp. Board extends their sillcere gratitude to the Honorable Peter H. Dominick and Floyd Haskell, United States Senators from Colorado; and the Honorable Frank E. Evans and William Armstrong, U. S. Representatives from Colorado, who introduced necessary Legislation requesting the increased appro- 7 ~ -.,J 00 ., priation, and who supported the request with their best efforts, Support was also received from members of the Congress {rom the Arkansas River Basin Sta.tes, as well as many others who truly believe in Water Management. FRYINGPAN.ARKANSAS PROJECT . .,' Earlier in this Annual Report, under the Section "Testimonv Before Congress", we explained that each vear the m.embers of the Board of Directors of the Dis. trict, in cooperation with members of the Color~do Congressional Delegation, Water Resource Orgamza- tions and representatives from Official Federal and State Agencies. develop testimony in support of appro- priations which will permit the continued construction of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project and Corps of En- gineers Water Resource Projects in Colorado. Many people do not realize that authorization of a Water Resouce Project by the Congress of the United States does not provide funding for its completion. Rather. funds are appropriated each year by the Congress of the United States for the actual amount of construction which can take place in that Fiscal Year or less. Many times either the Administration or the Congress do not see fit to appropriate the amounts of money requested by the Spunsoring Organizations. There are instances of Projects \....hich have been authorized for many vears, but on which no construction has begun. In i 974 the Congress of the United States passed an Act which requires the United States Bureau of TIeclama- tion, and the Corps of Engineers, to evaluate all such Projects, and to recommend tho~e which should be deauthorized. Consideration is also given to Projects which are underway, but which, for various reasons, have become economically infeasible. Mt. Elbert Pumped.Storage Powerplant 8