|
<br />':."'~
<br />;~
<br />
<br />r; "/1(;'1 r~ C~
<br />LJ \.7 _.~' hi L.. c.......;
<br />
<br />BY BYRON McKELVIE
<br />An evidently definite comlT.jtment has
<br />been forced out of the Bureau of
<br />Reclamation by U.S. Rep. Frank E.
<br />Evans. D-Colo., for advertising of bids on
<br />the Dolores River Project to be out about
<br />June 1. 1977, it was BnnOWlced this week.
<br />Evans. le8rning of a statement by the
<br />bureau's regional director, Dave Cran~
<br />daD in Montrose last Friday, that four
<br />projects. including the Dolores, would be
<br />delayed for one year. made calls to
<br />bureau Commissioner GilStamm.
<br />Stamm. Evans related to the Mon- .
<br />tezuma Valley Journal Monday, assured
<br />him that the bids on the cODJlt;nletlon
<br />phase of the projects will be durlPl; tbiS
<br />coming fi8cal year. Those on the DaUu
<br />Creek. Savery-Pot Hook and Fndt1aad
<br />
<br />t",
<br />
<br />'"\.,
<br />;'JI
<br />
<br />@
<br />
<br />,:1
<br />
<br />\l/11"h"F~2.L.J.lY1r;2Ia))~9' 0tJU;?H4t.." J7_5~7' .'
<br />
<br />0"" 0 . r
<br />---,..--. .~.- '-, r-',~.'" D ( ,'r'~~ ~, r'---', ",' .@r..-.,..flJ'fr'.@, R.' ~. '" G,- ( ]('":ll
<br />-,- -- '" - . I . - ~ - ~ d 1 r ;::::.... - ~..oJ -"'--. - - ~ ' -,.-., ~ f ~ r ;;',__~. ~"
<br />Gl:. ~,~ L L!.. U ILi 1.1 U Li0'i.., u L,..)ju tJ ,0'J'U 0:7 ":;1 Li iD
<br />
<br />
<br />is now getting 35n,OOf> acre-feet of lWater
<br />that belongs to Colorado under 1922 8Dd
<br />1948interstate.compacts. .
<br />Sparks also proposed that the bureau
<br />stop -raiding the Upper Colorado River
<br />Basin Fund by paying electric power lD-
<br />terests in the Lower Colorado River '
<br />Basin to make up for power lost at the
<br />hydroelectric plant at Hoover Dam near
<br />Las Vegas during the Wtial storage_
<br />water in Lake Powell. He wants retumol
<br />the money paid to the utilities over !:be
<br />past deCade.
<br />Sparks alsO seeks firing of regioaa
<br />director Dave Crandall. move the UppeI
<br />Colorado River region office of l1li
<br />bureau and also the Upper Colorat;ll
<br />River Com,rnission from Salt Lake 011 t.
<br />8 city within the Upper Colorado Rive
<br />Basin. 1'l1e commission office once .....
<br />in Grand'Junctiod.
<br />
<br />C"@ ,..,,~
<br />_~. '-.... r ~
<br />~) f - U ~
<br />Q:V
<br />
<br />Mesa projects will be advertised by Jan.
<br />I, 1977, and those on the Dolores about
<br />June 1,1977.
<br />"There apparently will hot be a year's
<br />delay in any of these Western Slope
<br />water projects," Evans said.
<br />When tlie Third Congressional District
<br />Congressman heard about the statement
<br />in Washington Friday afternoon, he im-
<br />mediately contacted Stamm's office.
<br />Stamm himself was on his way to a
<br />meetin~ inSan D1e~o. ,
<br />, "1 told the bureau that any further ap-
<br />preciable delay in the water projects was
<br />'totally unacceptable, '" Evans recalled.
<br />"I also demanded a reversal of the
<br />delay."
<br />'Within an hour after Evans' firl1>t- call,
<br />Stamm's office called back saying that
<br />"by cuttinR corners and condens.inR'
<br />
<br />~.
<br />
<br />work," the -bureau could possibly go to
<br />construction contracts on Dallas:, Savery
<br />,and Fruitland by Jan. 1.
<br />Late Sunday, Evans reported, Stamm
<br />met with bureau officials gathered atSarl
<br />Diego to confinn the new information.
<br />Starrun contacted Evans from San Diego
<br />Monday morninJ!:.
<br />"Washington -and regional offices of
<br />the bureau now know that I want a
<br />detailed report of every delay cited on
<br />these projects," Evans told the Journal.
<br />"I want to know how delays happened
<br />and what is being done immediately to
<br />remedy the problems. The bureau must
<br />move on these water projects."
<br />El'8l1S' inquiries came st about the
<br />same time that Colorado Water- Con-
<br />servation Board Director Felix Larry
<br />Sparks proposed in Montrose, that, the
<br />
<br />Bureau of Reclamation be made ac-
<br />countable for the delays in projects
<br />which ~e pointed out are against the
<br />wishes of the 1968 Colorado River Basin
<br />Project Act.
<br />~parks speclficall}' mentioned the
<br />Dolores, the DaUas Creek near Mon-
<br />trose, the Fruitland Mesa near Crawford
<br />and the Savery-Pot Hook near Craig in
<br />his proposal which asked that an in-
<br />junction be filed to stop the Central
<br />Arizona Project unless the Bureau of
<br />Reclamation has the projects certified
<br />for construction by March3I next year.
<br />The five Colorado West projects listed
<br />in the legislation (H.H. 3300) In 1968 in
<br />conjunction with the Central Arizona
<br />Projed were the Dolores, the Animas--La
<br />Plata, the San MigtW" the Dallas Creek
<br />and the West Divide, which would be
<br />located in theGlenwood SpringS area.
<br />
<br />.?-t:-
<br />
<br />,iC--
<br />
<br />Former U.S. Rep. Wayne Aspinall, 0-
<br />Colo., then chainnan of the House In-
<br />sular Affairs Committee which was
<br />responsible for Bureau of Reclamation
<br />w()t'k, made it clear in the legislation that
<br />the five projects would be comple~d at
<br />the same time as the Central ArIZona
<br />Project.
<br />However, Sparks pointed out. last
<br />Friday in Montr_ose, the Central AriZOna
<br />is well underway, with millions of dollars
<br />already spent <1n it, while the Colorado
<br />projects haven't even been started yet.
<br />H the March 31 deadline isn't met,
<br />Sparks proposed, the Colorado ~
<br />Waler Conservation Board should go to
<br />court and resolve some questions of
<br />re18tive obligations of all the Colorado
<br />River Basin states to share their water
<br />with Mexico. This question has been the
<br />subject of ~ion for decades. Mexico
<br />
|