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Dfi,~",o~~S:~~ , " Project No, 2647 On July 18, 1972, Applicant filed i~~ Anawer to the ~otjQn to Dis1'1iss, In its Answer Applicant stated dp'vc,lo"-" 'nr. hydroelectric pOlver on public lands cannot be under"Lak(e~, ,-xcep", by authority of the Federal Power Commissinn regardless of the priority position of a holder of conditional rights for the consum?ti ve use of the water and t;lat it is the duty of the Co%uission to select a plan which in its judgme~t will be the best adapted to a comprehensive plan; Intervenor asserts priority to only a part of the water rights necessary for full development of the South Fork'of the White River; litigation is pending in which the United States is asserting the identical priority dates sought by Applicant which would predate the Intervenor; the claim of irreparable damage is spurious be- cause a preliminary permit does not authorize construction and if Applicant files an application for license Intervenor may file a competing application, that Applicant's interests in \vater were not "irrevocably optioned" by contract and that the contract relates to waters of Canyon Creek, being an en- tirely different drainage having nothing whatsoever to do with the waters of the South Fork of the White River; Appli- cant has conditional rights to the same waters as Intervenor albeit later in time and Applicant's purpose is not to harass, delay and defeat Intervenor's efforts to make beneficial use of its adjudicated water rights, but is to study plans for hydroelectric power development on the South Fork of the White River and determine whether an application for a license should be prepared for the consideration of the Commission. The matter of water rights is an inappropriate subject for consideration in an application for preliminary permit. As this Commission has previously stated: A preliminary permit under the Federal Power Act does not authorize the Permittee to interfere with any vested water rights of the Petitioners. The Colorado River Water Conservation District Project No. 2511, 34 FPC 1211 (1965). The Preliminary Permit is merely to give the Permittee, during the period of the permit, the right of priority over other non-Federal entities while the Permittee undertakes the necessary studies and examinations required by Section 9 of the Federal Power Act, This by itself cannot cause irreparable damage to Intervenor's efforts to install hydroelectric facili- ties in connection with Project No. 2289, which application was dismissed without prejudice. 37 FPC 329 (1967); confirmed and reinstatement den. 37 FPC 900 (1967); affd. Rocky Mountain Power Company v, Federal Power Commission, 409 F 2d 1122 (C.C. A,D,C. 1969) For these reasons, the motion to dismiss should be den'ied.