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.. a~e charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the people of Denver are provided with high quality drinking water. It is submitted that EPA, in taking its recent action, has shirked that statutory responsibility. The temptation of social meddling to further political philosophies was apparently too great. In this instance, the term "high quality" requires that the treatment faci- lities be the most modern possi~le while being provided at the cheapest possible cost to the consumer. This principle was used in the design of the entire Foothills Project. The third aspect of an adequate water supply concerns reliable availability of the water supply and a consideration of "operational constraints." This aspect is the most highly technical and often the one most easily ignored by "instant experts" who presume to substitute their judgment concerning the management of a water utility system for that of professional engineers. In the case of the Foothills project, numerous operational considerations such as hydrologic analysis, power requirements, average and peak demands, water supply distribution, sedimentation problems, Colorado Water Law complexities, economic and engineering feasiblities, and winter icing problems have been incorporated into the decision process which designated the Foothills Project as the next component neces- sary in the utility system for the Denver Metropolitan Area. Of course, design considerations for utility services are not static and vary with the demands of the times. As an example, be- cause of modern national energy realities, Foothills was designed as an element of the utility system which would minimize power consumption. In fact, as presently designed, the Foothills filtra- tion facility will actually generate a surplus of energy. The plant will generate 11 million kilowatt hours (KWH) per year initially and potentially 28 million KWH per year. The location of the treatment plant will allow distribution by gravity and will initially save 16 million KWH per year and ultimately 63 million KWH per year in the existing system through elimination of pumping costs. This will result in a $665,000.00 savings in the first year Foothills is operational. This is just one example of the many complex interrelationships that were considered before the Foothills Project as proposed could be offered to the people of Denver as the best solution as of a point in time for the problems the utility faced in meeting increased demands for its services. Here again, this complex balancing analysis was undertaken and advanced after a tremendous amount of indepth analysis by world- recognized experts in the field of utility planning and design. Outlined above is a cursory examination of some of the complex analyses that precipitated the determination that the Foothills Treatment Complex was needed. Advanced design concepts were used to insure that Foothills will supplement the presently existing well-planned and integrated total water system for the metropoli- tan area. It will serve in an ever-increasing manner to meet the -4-