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Show By Jack Wallis LCmY We object .tp the attacks environmental en-vironmental groups are making against the proposed White River Dam 45 miles southeast of Vernal. In Salt Lake City last week the statements were 15 to 1 'against the dam. The Vernal hearing was unanimously in favor of the project. pro-ject. The environmental groups, were organized at the Salt Lake hearing and made an impression on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hearing officer Col. Paul E. Kavanaugh. If it had been known beforehand that such an environmental en-vironmental attack was imminent supporters sup-porters of the project from the local area would have traveled to the Salt Lake hearing' to present their statements. Opposing statements were made that there were other sources of water and that the oil shale industry was dying, and that the endangered fish would be destroyed, and that a thrilling canoe river would be destroyed and that wildlife would be homeless, and on and on. We feel the environmental forces are out to bust all the proposed dams they can. Some environmentalists take the attitude that any kind of a new dam is a "no-no" and they must be stopped. We remember the struggle to get Flaming Gorge and Glen Canyon dams built. All kinds of reasons were given to try to stop their construction. They would not hold water, they would cover all the scenic beauty of the canyons, they would cause mud flats and bath tub rings, they would increase the salt content con-tent of the river and they would fill up with silt. How many times have we heard these arguments? Very few of those making such statements had ever visited the areas or know what they were talking about. If these dams were as detrimental as many environmentalists say, do you think the residents who live around the j affected areas would favor such a structure? The people who live around the projects would be the ones to suffer i according to the arguments given by the environmentalists. But those living in the areas served by the reclamation dams are the greatest supporters of the projects. They benefit by cleaning up the era tic streams and storing a source of water instead of losing it every spring spr-ing run-off. They benefit by better fishing areas for a greater number of people and receive an improved recreation recrea-tion area besides a source of hydroelec- 4 tricity and needed irrigation. If some of the environmentalist who oppose the White River Dam would spend the summer in this area maybe they would gain a greater appreciation for the need to develop this resource as a water storage resource. Sen. Orrin Hatch brought home a point when he was asked to comment in his weekly interview for the press concerning con-cerning his tour of the Central Utah Project. Hatch was asked if it was still worth putting more money into CUP? Hatch said: "I can tell you right now that the CUP is crucial to us because of the water it will bring to us. Water is critical, in Utah. It's our life's blood. The CUP is an excellent project that's about 30 percent complete. I was amazed amaz-ed at the progress on the CUP and I suggest sug-gest that now is the time for the environmental en-vironmental extremists to pack their bags and leave, and quit costing us the excess costs the project is now exacting. exac-ting. "The Central Arizona Project, which is about the same as ours, is almost 90 percent complete because their people haven't delayed its every step. I think it's time now, since we're almost 30 percent per-cent complete, to go ahead and finish the CUP." If the environmentalists insist on more study and more mitjgation on the White River Dam, it could kill the feasibility of the project. There is a limit to what the Utah Division of Water Resources is willing to pay out on the White River project. The revolving bond money for the project has been available for several years. The longer we wait the more this project will cost. ' The project is needed as an oasis for southeastern Uintah County. It is in the middle of a rich energy area dependent on a reliable water source. Nothing could be farther from the truth than to say the White River Project is not needed need-ed and that other water sources can supply the needs of this area. Without White River water, resource development develop-ment will be curtailed. With it this area can blossom. We hope the Army Corps Colonel was not taken in by the negative statements of environmental interests at the Salt Lake hearing on the White River Dam project. ' We hope a 404 permit is issued by the Army Corps and progress can proceed as scheduled for this life blood project in the second dryest state in the nation. |