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~ comment which appears on page 9-29 of the Final Environ- mental Statement on the Foothills Project (FES), is grossly inaccurate and misleading when it states that the principal purpose of the Foothills Project is to only enable Denver to meet projected max day demands to accommodate horticultural irrigation without restrictions in the hot summer months. This provides an excellent example of the danger inherent in any attempt to oversimplify a complex issue. This sim- plistic comment was pounced on by the EFA and restated as "the principal purpose of the project." The people of Denver, and of this country for that matter, enjoy a high standard of living due in no small measure to the provision of adequate public utility service. The term "adequate" is of critical significance when dis- cussing any of the necessities of modern civilization such as water, power or fuel. The Foothills Project is no more than a component of a vital utility system needed to ensure safe and dependable water service to the people who depend upon it and who use it to ensure the enhancement of the environment of the Denver l~tropolitan Area. As the public interest group, Historic Denver, has pointed out, the citizens of Denver over 100 years ago chose an esthetically pleasing environment patterned after the English Garden style of the East. The people have continued this life style, the people have voted water works improve- ments with this in-mlnd and neither narrowly based special interest groups nor Federal officials have a right to reject the people's choice and destroy this Historic Value: An analysis of the term "adequate" in the context of a water utility such as the one which supplies the Denver Metropolitan Area involves an examination of many technical and complex factors including quantity, quality and avail- ability of water. Before examining the factors which were relied on by expert utility planners in formulating the decision to proceed with the Foothills addition to the Denver water system, a few observations must be made. The Board of Water Commissioners for the City and County of Denver, acting under authority of the Denver City Charter, are charged with supplying as a minimum, an ade- quate water supply to the people it serves. ASSuming no suicidal intent, any opponent to an improvement in the water utility service of the City must of necessity only attack the Board's and the people of Denver's judgment as to what is an "adequate" water supply. Therefore, to be reasonable, opponents of this Project must maintain that the Denver community will receive adequate utility service which will remain adequate for a substantial period of time without the project. -2-