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Show Red Fleet water dtujiresjQjj STOftlhes MseinrDS Two members of the Bureau of Reclamation answered questions for three hours from the Vernal City Council Coun-cil and 35 concerned citizens about the cost, time schedule and construction of the Red Fleet Dam. The main concern of the people at the Wednesday morning meeting was the cost of Red Fleet water, considering the escalated cost in construction of the dam. Costs have risen from $12.8 million to the dam's present completion cost of $28.4 million because of added costs for the 1978 Safe Dams Act which calls for additional safety items in dam construction. Because the construction of the Red Fleet Dam began before the Safe Dams Act was passed, the majority of the added ad-ded costs could be reimbursed from the Federal Government, said Lawrence Y. Siddoway, chairman of the Uintah Conservancy District. Siddoway said he met with the director direc-tor of the Bureau of Reclamation about getting back the added costs for the dam, and he said his reception with the director was "very good and showed hope for available funds". Without any refunds from the Federal Government the total cost of the Red Fleet water will be $144 per acre foot, said Howard Pearson, Bureau of Reclamation. The Central Utah Project will participate on 34 of the cost of municipal water which will mean cost of the water to Vernal City will be about $90 per acre foot. Howard added. The figure of $90 per acre foot is higher than what Vernal City is now paying for water, "but you are paying for storage of the water," Howard said. Vernal City is under a contract to purchase pur-chase 12,000 acre feet of the Red Fleet water to be delivered at Ashley Springs by an aqueduct from the dam to Ashley Creek. The $12 million aqueduct, to be bid in June and July, will replace Ashley Creek water with Red Fleet water a shqrt distance above the High Line Canal diversion. The exhange will allow Vernal City to use more water from Ashley Springs, the city's present source of water. A concern of many fishermen in the valley is the flow of water from Ashley Springs downstream which is an ideal habitat for brown trout. "According to our figures, by 1995 the flow in Ashley Creek will be dry," said Nelson Marshall, Uintah Engineering. He said that a flow of at least 13 acre feet must be maintained to provide for the fish. The City Council is faced with the proper pro-per selection of the location of a treatment treat-ment plant to maintain the 13 acre feet flow down Ashley Creek. Council members promised to have another meeting to address the treatment plant and the unapproved water label from the State Department of Health. According to Palmer Delong, Bureau of Reclamation, the Jensen Unit of the Central Utah Project "is in the national interest". "We have no desire to penalize Vernal Ver-nal City or the Uintah Conservancy District for having a water supply." He said the project is very flexible in the amount of water to be delivered and when it is delivered. Pearson promised that the water in the area would never be transported to any other area, such as to the Wasatch Front as rumored. According to Lawrence Y. Siddoway, the valves will be tested this week and the Red Fleet Reservior will begin filling fill-ing this summer to about 13,000 acre feet. Most of the people at the meeting felt it was very positive, and were satisfied with the answers given by the bureau members. |