In view of the foregoing, I recommend that the plan for the development of the upper Colorado River Basin include the Echo Park and Split Mountain Dams and Reservoirs within the Dinosaur National Monument. This is in keeping with the original recommendation made by the former Secretary of the Interior.

Approved:

NOVEMBER 30, 1953.

RALPH A. Tudor,

Under Secretary.

COMMISSIONER'S LETTER OF NOVEMBER 13, 1953, TO THE

SECRETARY

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION,

Washington 25, D. C., November 13, 1953.

The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

SIR: At your request and pursuant to the request of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget contained in his letter to you of January 27, 1953, the report of the previous administration on the Colorado River storage project and participating projects has been reviewed. The attached supplemental report on the project dated October 1953, has been prepared to supersede the previous reports of the Commissioner of Reclamation and Secretary of the Interior and to bring up to date the December 15, 1950, report.

The new report is based on the December 15, 1950, report of Reclamation's regional director and it includes the comments of the affected States and agencies on that previous report.

I find that the elements recommended for initial authorization in the attached report have economic and engineering feasibility and that they will soon be needed to meet the requirements of the compacts and the international commitments with respect to the waters of the Colorado River and to provide for economic stability and development of the upper Colorado River Basin. I, therefore, submit this report, incorporating with modifications the report of the regional director of the Bureau of Reclamation and superseding all other previous reports, as my report on the upper Colorado River storage project and participating projects.

I recommend that you approve and adopt the report and that you submit it to the President for advice concerning its relationship to his program.

Respectfully submitted.

December 10, 1953.
Approved and adopted:

W. A. DEXHEIMER, Commissioner.

DOUGLAS MCKAY, Secretary of the Interior.

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT ON COLORADO RIVER STORAGE PROJECT AND PARTICIPATING PROJECTS, UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN, OCTOBER 1953

1. This supplemental report on the Colorado River storage project and participating projects in the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming is based on the accompanying report of the regional director, Bureau of Reclamation, Salt Lake City, Utah, dated December 15, 1950, and is a departmentwide report recommending authorization of programs of all the agencies of the Department. The report supersedes and replaces, with modifications, the previous reports of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Secretary of the Department of the Interior on this project, and modifies and brings the report of the regional director up to date. Comments of the affected States and of interested Federal agencies on our proposed report, obtained in accordance with the provisions of the Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), the act of August 14, 1946 (60 Stat. 1080), and applicable interagency agreements, are enclosed and made a part of this report.

2. The report of the Department of the Interior on the inventory of potential developments in the Colorado River Basin, House Document 419, 80th Congress, pointed out that, in view of the fact that there is not enough water available in the Colorado River system to permit construction of all of the potential projects and have full expansion of existing and authorized projects, the States of the Colorado River Basin should determine their respective rights to deplete the flow of the Colorado River consistent with the Colorado River compact. Following issuance of that document, the States of the upper Colorado River Basin negotiated and formalized a compact called the Upper Colorado River Basin compact to which the Congress granted its consent in the act of April 6, 1949 (63 Stat. 31). Completion of that compact has permitted formulation of at least an initial stage of further development of the upper Colorado River Basin. The plan proposed and presented in the regional director's report was worked out in close cooperation with representatives of the States of the upper Colorado River Basin, and their favorable comments are enclosed.

3. A plan of ultimate development in terms of storage is presented in this supplemental report but recommendation is made for authorization at this time of only a partial development in terms both of storage and of water utilization. Selection of the plan for ultimate storage is based in general upon securing the needed reservoir capacity for all purposes, while attaining the minimum in evaporation losses, water being prerequisite to the livelihood of the area. The initial units have been selected as being those best adapted to meeting the most pressing needs of the area. As indicated in the recommendations included herein, the proposal is such as to permit additions to the plan as other units and participating projects are investigated and weighed in the light of the criteria expressed herein. The total storage capacity contemplated ultimately is designed to assure that the flow of the river at Lee Ferry will not be depleted below 75 million acre-feet in any 10 consecutive years while permitting continued development of the upper basin as contemplated when the Colorado

River compact was drawn up. Thus, upon the authorization of the units recommended, the upper basin may continue and increase its utilization of its waters and the lower basin may be assured that its rights under the compact are protected.

4. It is not contemplated that all units of the ultimate storage plan should be constructed or even authorized at this time. The project is planned to ultimately provide about 48 million acre-feet of total capacity which it now appears can best be accomplished by a series of 9 storage reservoirs. Recommendations for the authorization of other than the initially recommended units will be based on continued hydrologic investigations. Revenues from the sale of power generated at or made possible by these reservoirs should be used to assist in the repayment of reimbursable costs of worthy irrigation projects which might not otherwise be feasible under the Federal reclamation law. Additional storage project units should be constructed as required to meet the needs for consumptive use of water and for generation of electric energy.

5. In addition to permitting the upper basin to move forward with utilization of its waters, the Colorado River storage project and participating projects will provide electrical energy to a large area where it is urgently needed. Flood protection, sediment retention, fish and wildlife conservation, and recreational opportunities will also be provided. Detailed recommendations and plans to accomplish these purposes will be prepared as a part of the detailed planning for the individual units and projects.

6. The underlying report of the regional director recommended approval of a system of 10 major dams and reservoirs as units of the storage project, with initial authorization of the Glen Canyon, Echo Park, Flaming Gorge, Navaho, and Whitewater units. Authorization of 12 initial participating projects was recommended, with provision for including 1 additional project, which is already authorized and under construction, as a participating project.

7. As mentioned hereinbefore, copies of the report of the regional director were submitted as a part of the proposed report of the Department of the Interior to the Secretary of the Army and to the States signatory to the Colorado River compact for their views and recommendations in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of the Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944, to the heads of the agencies of the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming exercising administration over the wildlife resources of the States for their report and recommendations in accordance with the provisions of the act of August 14, 1946, and to other interested Federal agencies for their views and comments. Copies of all the comments which have been received are enclosed with this supplemental report.

8. The reviewing officials of the States directly affected; namely, the upper division States of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, approved the proposed report, and commended the Department for the coordination between the States and the Department during the course of investigations and preparation of the report. They noted that there has been full compliance with the spirit and purpose of the Flood Control Act of 1944. They endorsed the recommendations in the proposed report and called attention to and made recommendations on matters beyond the scope of the proposed report.

9. Three of the upper division States recommended that the hydroelectric plants of the project be operated in conjunction with other Federal powerplants on the Colorado River in such manner as to produce the greatest practicable amount of power and energy that can be disposed of at firm power and energy rates. The States of the upper division appeared also to desire that ultimately some provision be made that would give power users in those States or in the upper basin a permanent priority over users elsewhere to the energy generated by the project units. They appeared to be concerned over the possibility that highly developed areas outside their confines will be in a position to contract for the power output of the projects before potential users in the upper division States or in the upper basin are in a position to do so. It is noted that bills introduced in the Congress by Senators and Representatives from the upper basin States include a provision relating to this matter. The Congress will no doubt consider this problem in the course of hearings on the bills. 10. The State of Arizona also concurred in the report, and expressed a desire to be included in the power marketing area of the project on the same basis as the other upper basin States. The power marketing studies in the report were made as examples only, and the method of preparing those studies does not evidence any intention to exclude Arizona from the use of power from the project.

11. The States of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah recommended that the Shiprock Indian reclamation project be authorized as one of the initial participating projects but not constructed until a detailed project report is completed, made available to the States for review, and approved by the Congress. The State of New Mexico also recommended that the South San Juan and the San Juan-Chama projects be included for authorization as initial participating projects on the same basis as the Shiprock project.

12. At the time the Colorado River storage project report was being prepared, the Commissioner, Bureau of Indian Affairs, anticipated that a detailed report on the Shiprock project would soon be available. The difficulty of reaching an agreement among the various parties who are interested in the development of the waters of the San Juan River in New Mexico has prevented the completion of such a report up to this time. For this reason it is now recommended, and the report is revised, in partial accord with the views of the States and at the request of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to provide for authorization of the Shiprock project now as one of the initial participating projects with, however, initiation of actual construction deferred until there has been made available to the affected States and approved by the Congress a report on the project establishing the acreage to be served by the project and its feasibility.

13. With respect to the San Juan projects, a great quantity of data is being collected and analyzed. The need for the San Juan-Chama project in particular is acute to relieve pressing and impending water shortages both for irrigation and for municipal and industrial purposes in New Mexico and to provide an important block of hydroelectric power in a power-short area. The South San Juan project is closely associated with the Shiprock Indian project, and the 2 should be developed as divisions of 1 project. The Congress may give consideration to the authorization of the San Juan-Chama and South San

Juan projects as initial participating projects, as they are included in the bills which have been introduced in the Congress.

14. Prospects are good for an early agreement among the parties. concerned as to the use of the waters of the San Juan River on Indian and non-Indian lands in New Mexico. When the underlying report was prepared, agreement to this division of water had not been anticipated quite so soon and, accordingly, the Navaho Dam and Reservoir had been considered as one of the units of the storage project for initial authorization rather than as a participating project reservoir. It had been expected that during its early life the principal purpose of this control structure, which will also assist in preventing sediment encroachment in Glen Canyon Reservoir, would be that of aiding in meeting water deliveries at Lee Ferry. It was recognized, however, that ultimately it would be needed to assure continuous water supply for the Shiprock Indian irrigation project and South San Juan development and as replacement storage for the San Juan-Chama Diversion project, and that its use would be restricted to supplying the participating projects when its full capacity was needed for consumptive use purposes. With the present hopeful outlook toward full agreement being reached within the next few years, full conservation use of the Navaho Reservoir will be needed at an earlier date than heretofore assumed. For this reason it is recommended that the Navaho Dam and Reservoir be eliminated as a unit of the storage project, and that it become a part of the Shiprock Indian irrigation project, with portions of its cost, along with portions of the costs of other joint facilities, to be charged later against the potential South San Juan and San JuanChama projects. It should be the first unit of the Shiprock project to be constructed. In view of the close relationship between the South San Juan and Shiprock developments, it is believed to be appropriate to incorporate them as one project, to be called the Navaho project, consisting of two divisions, the Shiprock (Indian) division and the South San Juan division. The Navaho Reservoir is recommended herein initially as a part of the Shiprock division as it is an essential integral part of the Indian development without which the program to make the Navaho Indian self-sufficient cannot be fully carried out.

15. After reviewing the proposed report the State of Colorado recommended that the Whitewater unit on the Gunnison River not be included as an initial unit of the Colorado River storage project. Although desiring one of the initial units to be located on the Gunnison River, the State at that time had not decided which of the several possible units should be selected, and recommended that certain further studies be made of the Gunnison River units before final selection is made. Further study was given by the Bureau of Reclamation to the location of storage units on the Gunnison River, in accordance with this recommendation, and information was made available to the State. The director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board has recently advised us that the board has approved a reservoir at the Curecanti site with a storage capacity of 940,000 acre-feet, and has urged that this project be included as a part of the initial authorization of the Colorado River storage project. Analyses of the Colorado River storage project with both the large Curecanti (2,500,000 acrefeet) and the small Curecanti (940,000 acre-feet) are included as attachments to this report. These analyses indicate that power from