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:3 - -75 '. . 3-1~ tamm seeks Dallas water . use review From Tbe Sentinel Washington Breau 'WASHINGTON - In a letter to tbe Colorado Water Conservation Board, Gov. Ricbard Lamm asked the board to look into tbe Dallas Creek Project's possible uses for energy development. The Kemmerer Coal Co. has an option to lease 24,000 acre-feet of water for coal development in the area from the Tri-County Water Dist. beadquartered at Montrose. "My general position is that Colo- rado must make significant strides in the coming decade to strengthen our .agricultural economy which has been our largest and most stable industry. "We should also insure that Colo- rado's municipal and energy needs are fully provided thru existing or future water projects. "We should not be in the business of converting our mineral fuel re- sources to clean energy for other regions of this country. Our water is too scarce and our environment too fragile to undertake this kind of activity. "Therefore. . . I would ask you particularly to scrutinize the Dal- las Creek Project according to the above standards. It seems to me possibly appropriate for the Colo- rado Water Conservation Board to meet with the Tri-County Dist. and to reconstitute the Dallas Creek Project with the idea of re-empha- sizing agriculture and municipal water needs. Much of this informa- tion is not yet available, and I urge the water conservation board to ob- tain and evaluate such information before we give our unqualified sup- port," Lamm wrote. State Engineer Clarence J. Kui- per and Tri-County president Har- old Westesen expressed surprise about the governor's stand. Westesen said that Lamm had been in Montrose on Monday to talk to the Chamber of Commerce and had not indicated any opposition to the Dallas Creek Project. He and other Tri-County repre- sentatives noted that Kemmerer Coal was not dependent on the Dal- las Creek Proie4t for water.