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Show Upper Colorado liver Commission Votes Ail-Out Support Of Dam Sites Grand junction, colo Members of the Upper Colorado River commission Tuesday gave all-out support to the proposed Echo Park and Split Mountain dams on the Colorado river. At the end of its two-day meeting, the commission, composed com-posed of representatives from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming, urged Secretary of Interior Oscar Chapman to include the two projects in the nine-reservoir storage project. The National Park service opposes op-poses the projects because they would back reservoirs into Dinosaur Di-nosaur National monument in northeastern Utah. "It would be in the greater national interest to develop the area in question for water control con-trol and utilization purposes, rather than retain it in its nat- ; ural state for its geologic, scenic, scen-ic, and associated values," the resolution said. The commission noted that 'the reservoirs will cover little of value, and said that when the monument was established, there was an understanding that future water control and utilization would not be thwarted. thwart-ed. Ernest Untermann, curator of the Field House of Natural History, Vemal, who has explored ex-plored the area, said the water backed up by the Echo Park reservoir would open the area for further exploration and make its scenic areas more accessible. ac-cessible. The commission also adopted a $45,700 budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, and selected se-lected R. D. Goodrich, retiring dean of engineering at Wyoming Wyo-ming university, as commission engineer. The commission will forward a statement of its position on the Echo Park and Split Mountain Moun-tain reservoirs to Washington for inclusion in testimony to be taken at a hearing April 3, called by Secretary Chapman. |