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<br />~3GS <br /> <br />FRYING PAN-ARKANSAS PROJECT, COLORADO <br /> <br />27 <br /> <br />MI'. Chairman it is a pleasure to appear before the committee ~or <br />the purpose of Pl'esenting the views of the Department of the InterIOr <br />and the administration on this long-delayed and urgently needed <br />reclamation development. <br />Our review of the history of eft'orts to secure authorization of this <br />project discloses that the lilatter has been before the Cougress more <br />or less cont.inuouslv since the second session of the 82d Congress. <br />There have been J11llnerol1s hearings before this committee in which <br />the phvsical and engineering aspects of the plan of proposed devel- <br />opment have been fully discussed and recorded. <br />Repre.sentati\'es of the Bureau of Reclamation accompany me to <br />offer additional detailed testimony on the technic",1 aspects of the <br />plnn and analyses if desired by the committee. Accordlllgly, I will <br />limit my remarks t.o some genel'Ullnatters. <br />The Fryingpan-Al'kansllS project is a trunsbasin diversion project <br />which will re~mlt in an arm"age increase in Arka.nsas River Basin <br />water supplv of U~,OOO acre-feet annually and will permit more effec- <br />tive utilization of approximately 150,000 acre-feet of Arkansas Basin <br />water. Hegulat,ion and distribution of this water resource will ena.ble <br />the generation of about 124,000 kilowatts of electric power, furnish <br />about ::W,OOO acre-feet of municipal und industrial water, and furnish <br />a stabilizing water supply to 280,000 acres of inadequately irrigated <br />land. Fish and wildlife resources will be conserved and developed, <br />and opport.unitie!::i for outdoor recreation will be created and <br />~timulated. <br />Thus, the Fryingpan-Arkansas projC<'t is a classic example of t.he <br />de\'elopment and utilization of our water re5011rces t.lu'ough the <br />multiple-pnq)ose concept. Every major recognized wn.ter use func~ <br />tion except navigation will be benefited throngh the~e proposed <br />works of development. The most recent analysis of costs, benefits, <br />,md repayment shows that 90 percent of the original cost will. be <br />reimburs'lble and that abont one-half of the to!:LI amount will be <br />returned to the Treasury with interest at a mte to be fixed by the <br />legislation. Repayment of the reimbursable costs can be accom- <br />plished within the recommended 50-year payout period. <br />We understand that all areas of disagreement at the local level <br />have be~Il resolved t.hrough negotiations among the people and officials <br />of the State of Colorado. This is reflected in a('proved Opel'lltiRu <br />prillcipJes to which the Department of the Intenor subscl'lbes ana <br />,yhic.h tIre referred to in the legislation. This meeting of the minds <br />within the State of Colol'l1du has been made possible by the substitu- <br />tion of Ruedi Dum and Reservoir for the previously proposed, but <br />cont.ro\"e,l'slal Aspen Dam and ReserVOIr. <br />Either of the facilities would provide for replacement storage on <br />the western slope in Colorado to proted Colomdo River Basin water <br />rights. Ruedi Reser,'oir would serve an additional purpose of regulat- <br />ing water supplies for future beneficial use in the basin of origin and <br />~s t. 1.1lIS more a~'ce.pta.~le ~o l-epre~t~lti\"es of the d~v~rsion and collec~ <br />Iton urea. It IS gl'l1tIfYlllg to re'IWrt that the additIOnal cost of con- <br />Icting.R~edi Resen'oir, over Ulld.nbo\"e the cost of Aspen Reservoir, <br />i ..ell wlt.hln the repayment. capabili~jes ?f.the Fryingpan-Arkal:sRs <br />. ,oject; and there are 110 appa,:ent dIfliellltles from that standpOInt. <br />The Frymgpall-Arkansas project has been endorsed by the previous <br />