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<br />'. <br /> <br />Congress in 1962 involved the diversion of about 69,000 acre-feet <br /> <br />per year of water from Hunter Creek and the Roaring Fork River in <br /> <br />the Colorado River basin to the Arkansas River for the benefit <br /> <br />and use of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy <br /> <br />Distr ict. 79 <br /> <br />A major issue in obtaining congressional support for the <br /> <br />project concerned protection of West Slope interests.79 <br /> <br />In the <br /> <br />"Operating Principles, Fryingpan-Arkansas Project" adopted <br /> <br />in 1959 and incorporated into the federal legislation funding the <br />project80 it is stated that one of the purposes of the project is <br /> <br />the "protection of western Colorado water uses, both existing and <br /> <br />potential, in accordance with the declared policy of the State of <br /> <br />Colorado."8l <br /> <br />The means of providing that protection was to be <br /> <br />construction of the Ruedi Reservoir on the Fryingpan River with a <br /> <br />capacity of at least 100,000 acre-feet. <br /> <br />A portion of that water <br /> <br />79Id. at 42. See also Fryingpan-Arkansas project (Letter <br />from ActIng Secretary of the Interlor Transmittlng Report on the <br />Fryingpan-Arkansas project, Colorado, pursuant to Section 9(A) of <br />the Reclamation project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187)) (June 18, <br />1953) . <br /> <br />79By this time the Congressional representative for the West <br />Slope was Wayne Aspinall, chairman in the early 1950's of the <br />Reclamation Committee and later chairman of the Interior and <br />Insular Affairs Committee. Just as with Representative Taylor in <br />the 1930's, without Representative Aspinall's support, no bill <br />funding. this project could hope to pass in the House. Thus the <br />West Slope wielded substantial leverage in the discussions <br />concerning protection of its interests. Brace, supra note 77, <br />at 21. <br /> <br />80p.L. 87-590, 76 Stat. 389 (1962). <br /> <br />H.R. <br /> <br />8l0perating <br />Doc. No. 130, <br /> <br />Principles Fryingpan-Arkansas <br />87th Congo 1st Sess. (1961), at 1. <br /> <br />Project, <br /> <br />32 <br />