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Show Bennett Requests Starting Funds For Dixie Project Salt Lake City: Senator Wallace Wal-lace F. Bennett (R-Utah) last week urged the Secretary of Interior In-terior to include $1 million for Utah's Dixie Project in the budget bud-get to be submitted to Congress next January. 'This money can be efficiently and economically used to complete com-plete the specifications and plans for the project, to acquire the rights-of-way, and to let contracts on preliminary portions por-tions of the project," Sen. Bennett Ben-nett said. He pointed out that early acquisition of rights-of-way is particularly important because be-cause the tendency is for such costs to rise sharply. Although the Dixie Project has not yet been approved by Congress, Con-gress, Sen. Bennett urged the Secretary to include it in the budget in order to obtain funds as soon as possible. He said, "My request for a conditional appropriation appro-priation is not without precedent. Prest. Eisenhower included funds for the Upper Colorado River Storage Project in the budegts submitted to Congress in 1935 and 1956, even though the project pro-ject was not authorized until April of 1956. Because of his tore-sight, tore-sight, funds were included that year in the public works appropriations appro-priations bill so that construction construc-tion could be started immediately." immediate-ly." In his letter Sen. Bennett said the Dixie Project is essential to the future growth and development develop-ment not only of Washington County but also Cedar City, the largest city of Iron County. Construction Con-struction of the project would permit Cedar City to divert 8,000 acre-feet of water from the Upper Up-per Virgin Watershed, and the City of St, George would receive 5,000 acre-feet annually. In addition, addi-tion, the project would permit irrigation ir-rigation of 20,100 acres of farm land and would provide three power plants with a total capacity capa-city or. 13,200 kilowatts. Last year, at Sen. Bennett's request, re-quest, President Eisenhower included in-cluded $30,000 i i the budget to update the project planning report, re-port, which lirst had been submitted sub-mitted bv the Buieau of Reclamation Recla-mation in 1953. A preliminary report, completed complet-ed last June, recommended that the Dixie Project be approved. The 250-page study was a detailed detail-ed analysis of the engineering problems, water needs, and financing fin-ancing problems connected with the $44 million project. The June report was merely a preliminary study, to be submitted submit-ted to the various Federal agencies agen-cies involved and tiie states of the Lower Basin for study and comment prior to preparation of the final report which will serve as the basis of Congressional action. ac-tion. The preliminary report recommended recom-mended enactment of legislation substantially the same as tlie bill Introduced last January by Sen. Bennett. The bill provides for part of the power revenues from Hoover, Parker, and Davis Dams to be allocated to the Dixie Project Pro-ject The three dams are vithin the Lower Colorado Basin, as is the area to be served by the Dixie Project. |