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<br />It may be that by eliminating the overall comprehensive <br />plan that a more favorable plan could be developed solely as a <br />Colorado project. Consideration should be also given'to either <br />the elimination or improvement of the power features, since these <br />features contribute nothing to the project repayment other than to <br />power itself. <br /> <br />In attempting to arrive at a priority for the Juniper Proj- <br />ect we have evaluated it in connection with the other projects in <br />the Yampa Valley, as follows: <br /> <br />Great Northern <br />and Yampa valley <br /> <br />Juniper <br />(initial phase) <br /> <br />Estimated cost: <br /> <br />$29,750,000 <br /> <br />$30,328,000 <br /> <br />Irrigated acreage: <br /> <br />61,895 acres <br /> <br />9,000 acres <br /> <br />Cost per acre: $396. <br /> <br />$911. <br /> <br />Average annual stream depletion <br />per acre of irrigated land: 1.25 a.f. <br /> <br />5.39 a.f. <br /> <br />Benefit-cost ratio: 1.05 to 1 <br /> <br />1.62 to 1 <br /> <br />As can be seen from the above summary, the projects in the <br />upper Yampa will develop almost seven times the irrigated acreage <br />of the Juniper project, at less than the total cost of the Juniper <br />Project. The development cost per acre is less than half of the <br />Juniper development cost and the consumptive use of water per acre <br />is only about 25% of the consumptive use under the Juniper project. <br />Although the Juniper Project shows a more favorable benefit-cost <br />ratio, a more disadvantageous method was used in computing the ratio <br />for the upper Yampa projects. <br /> <br />Based on the available information, we can only come to the <br />conclusion that the economy of the Yampa Valley can best be devel- <br />oped by giving early priorities to those projects in the upper end <br />of the valley. People already reside under the proposed projects <br />there, and we feel that they should have first consideration in <br />preference to the development of wholly new farm units under the <br />Juniper project. Admittedly, however, the recreational benefits <br />attributable to the Juniper Project might outweigh land development <br />considerations. <br /> <br />Juniper project <br /> <br />-3- <br />