Show off official I 1 c lal urges storage project act action ion at once points out too that recreational facilities at the site of the proposed echo park dam in din dinosaur 0 national monument e at subject t to widespread controversy for the past several everal months would be a altered it ered but not destroyed those who have viewed a and nd studied tidied the situation agree that the dam and reservoir would alter but not destroy the beauty 0 of these canyons they conclude that the proposed echo park dam and reservoir at dinosaur national Nati monument would make possible the enjoyment of this area by the many rather has than by ft few ew wrote jacobson he comments that there are tose t ose who unjustly ly tear fear that development ent in this area would lead to deve development e 1 op in other areas of the national park system the colorado plateau hag has set gr the pace for or tremendous growth throughout the upper basin and areas beyond the basins perimeter jacobson wrote this pace can be maintained only through carefully planned use of allotted water nature s most precious gift to the upper basin can t condone idleness longer bureau engineer declares deac lares A high official of the bureau of reclamation declares that the colorado plateau can BO no longer condone the luxurious idleness of this great resource the upper colorado river the sast of our major undeveloped rivers the statement is made by C B jacobson engineer in charge of colorado river storage project investigations of the bureau of reclamation cla clar mation nation salt lake city the plateau now requires the ue aft of the rivers waters and of H its attractive byproduct hydroelectric energy said jacobson the users of water for industry domestic and irrigation purposes would benefit directly from the plan for the colorado river storage project through several individual multipurpose projects designated signa ted as pa participating ting projects a the stat statement em ent sa said foremost in toe the industrial revolution of this area however is the need for electric energy the power plants of the colorado river storage project would produce this necessary energy and its interconnecting transmission lines would span the length and breadth of the plateau joining in a combined offer to deliver this energy from a basic transmission system to industries municipalities and the farm are oine nine major private utilities operating in and about the plateau the P purpose ase of the plan Is to provide f for the greatest use of the w water ter of the colorado river system allotted allotted to the states 0 of jer the upper p e r basin the there r e still remains for use in the up upper e r ba basin in more than two thirds of i its t s 75 million acre feet per annum the upper basin allotment of water is subject to minimum deliveries of water at lee ferry ariz increased uses in the upper basin are therefore dependent upon large regu regulatory latoy storage facilities to assure th the de delivery very of minimum water requirements at at lee ferry with these storage facilities cili tili ties in operation on the main river system uninhibited use can be made of the upper basins allotted waters on upstream tribu baries such as those which will service the high colorado plateau in exchange for these upstream diversions storage water would be released from the main stream reservoirs to water users below lee ferry the report continued jacobsons statement relates that the proposed s storage projects and facilities for b hydroelectric y electric olec power would pay for themselves over a period of years through sale of electric energy and irrigation project t payments only three percent of the initial phase of the development would be able and that would be mainly for or recreational facilities of national significance in connection with the reservoirs jacobson said the storage project must be constructed in stages of nine major storage units in the total plan the secretary of the interior has recommended two the glen canyon and echo park units and an interconnecting basic transmission system he wrote these two initial storage units alone would produce two thirds of the storage and two thirds of the power at one half the cost of the total plan the secretary of the interior has recommended eleven new individual irrigation and multipurpose reclamation projects as an initial group of participating projects eight of the eleven are on the colorado plateau one of the eight involves an adjo adjoining ining highly populated and industrial area in utah which is benefiting greatly from the processing and handling of the plateaus r raw a w materials the other three are in the wyoming region to the north the initial group of participating projects as advocated by the secretary of the interior is but a mere start in the upper basin plan in that it would use less than six per cent of the water allotted the upper basin an important immediate addition to the initial group E would be the large navajo I 1 indian gid project under investigation on the southern end of the plateau in the vicinity of shiprock N M total cost of the two initial storage units and 11 initial participating projects is estimated at approximately approximate Lv million the irrigators would return their costs up to their ability and revenues from power would assist in retiring the irrigators unpaid balances the users of municipal and industrial water would return all of their costs with interest power however would be the big paymaster returning nearly two thuds thirds of the total cost of the initial cevelo development with interest and paying a major portion of the irrigators costs irrigation costs according to reclamation law require no interest payments the th bureau of reclamation report as prepared by jacobson |