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Show Conservancy District IVaryaer Federal Reversal Cities HcDpeffu! After Denver Conference Water Conservancy District followed suit and paid attention." Mr. Franson said Reclamation's position at this time is simply to determine whether the box culvert will work. But he was optimistic. "I think that it is probably feasible," he said. The primary thrust of the Bonneville Bon-neville Unit of the CUP is delivery of water to Salt Lake County. Plans call for stored winter water to be funneled via the Olmstead pipeline (the prominent green pipe that snakes down Provo Canyon), into two aqueducts - the Jordan Aqueduct, a 1 direct conduit to Salt Lake County, and the Alpine Aqueduct, intended to serve north Utah County. But the Timpanogos Agency says the dual aqueduct idea is detrimental to its constituents - primarily by unnecessarily fragmenting northern communities. The concrete box culvert would avoid the problem by combining all the water into a single conduit: using an existing right of way - the Murdock Canal - while at the same time delivering an equivalent volume at the end of the line. "If they go with their current plan, we will have four corridors of government-owned land coming through northern Utah County that would prohibit building and limit taxation," said Mr. Christiansen. Although Mr. Powell submitted a "well prepared" proposal, according to Mr. Franson, Reclamation is now proceding with its own cost-analysis of the box culvert option. "I think there is still some question about cost and how that compares with what we are doing now," he said. But so far, says Mr. Powell, the figures have been coming back Continued on Page A-12 By RANDALL WRIGHT After months of frustration with the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, sponsor of the Central Utah project, the cities of northern Utah County have finally gained an audience - not with the District but wjth the Bureau of Reclamation, the engineering arm of CUP. Representatives of the cities recently hopped a morning flight to Denver where they met with top Reclamation officials and presented an alternative to the giant aqueducts currently planned to dissect their communities. In a fourteenth-floor conference room of the U.S. Department of the Interior building, local officials were greeted with what has been generally described as an "excellent reception," recep-tion," and they now feel they are j being taken seriously. All the cities - Lindon, Pleasant Grove, American Fork, Highland, Alpine, Cedar Hills and Lehi - have tended together to form the Timpanogos Tim-panogos Planning and Water Management Agency, a group whose combined weight officials hope will influence the Water District to modify existing plans. After repeated rejection by the District, the cities are encouraged by the listening ear of the Bureau of Reclamation. In Denver, through engineer Lorin Powell, the Timpanogos Agency proposed that CUP water be transported tran-sported through north Utah County in a concrete box culvert to be built in the existing Murdock Canal right of way. Current plans adopted by the Water District call for two new pipelines that would slash a separate 120-foot swath through cities of the north end. Local officials are confident, the box culvert alternative can not only be constructed at considerably less cost of the current plan but would eliminate numerous negative side effects of the double aqueduct system. Alpine Mayor Don Christiansen, who attended the meeting along with Pleasant Grove City Engineer Lee Wimmer, American Fork City Councilman Jess Green and Mr. Powell, said he was pleased with the outcome. "I believe the reception was excellent," ex-cellent," said Mr. Christiansen. "And the results of the meeting, I would have to say, were excellent also." "Their top people were very receptive and were impressed that-seven that-seven cities could get together and mutually work for a project that is to their mutual benefit. They have seldom seen that, and they were quite impressed that these cities would lake the interest to do it," he said. Four officials from Reclamation's Provo office attended the meeting, including Central Utah Projects Manager Kirt Carpenter, and Planning Division Chief Jay Franson. Mr. Franson served as chairman. They were joined by seven top Reclamation people from the Denver office and two from Salt Lake City. Also making the trip were Carl H. Carpenter and Sheldon Talbot - both from the Central Utah Water Conservancy Con-servancy District. Mr. Green said he was "very encouraged" en-couraged" by Reclamation's attitude. "I came away feeling exuberent," he said, adding that he hopes to stay that way. "I think the number of people they -had there who were given specific assignments regarding our proposal indicates they are going to evaluate it on its own merits," said Mr. Green. : "And we have to take that at face , value. "I believe this is a major turn-about in their position toward the people of north Utah County, and it would certainly be nice if the Central Utah , . . . : "- .- -v ... . - - t r ' i' ; . - - v-..'. ' 1-.. ' W- -.ltfy IP- "-.r I -. H. pv p " 1 - 1 i- r " -' . j . i . 1 , POKTABLK CLASSROOM - PGIIS studeiils continue work on a portable classroom unit. The building is boing con-: con-: struclod by the Vocational Carpentry class and is situated just south of the two floor classroom building. I |