AZ vs. CA:20 California Exhibits, Vol. XX; Nos. 4050-4092

page 21

-21- Region 7 (which includes eastern Colorado, southern Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas) The Regional Counsel advises that the Bureau has acquired water rights in accordance with State laws under the provisions of section 8 of the Reclamation Act of 1902 without regard to whether such streams may be considered navigable or non-navigable. Among the more important projects in that region are the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, involving the Blue and the Upper Colorado Rivers in Colorado; the Kendrick and North Platte Projects in Wyoming and Nebraska, involving the North Platte River; the Frenchman-Cambridge and Bost-wick Projects, involving the Republican River in Nebraska and Kansas. On the Colorado-Big Thompson, in addition to making filings under State law, the Bureau has purchased water rights on the North and South Forks of the Colorado River, Black Leg Creek, Stillwater Creek, Small Creek and the Big Thompson River. On the Frenchman-Cambridge Project several small hydroelectric power plants on the Frenchman Creek, a tributary to the Republican River, have been purchased, together with all water rights and appurtenances. Also, water rights for a power plant on the Niobrara River, a tributary of the Platte River, were acquired in connection with the Mirage Flats Project in Nebraska. It is not likely that the foregoing streams are legally navigable although there has been no judicial determination to the Bureau's knowledge. Based on the foregoing reports, together with the review made in this office, I have summarized the practices of the Bureau of Reclamation under two categories: (1) those involving the initiation of appropriations pursuant