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Show The Corps of Engineers is making investigations to determine the flood control benefits of the project. It is anticipated that a substantial portion of the money to be appropriated for advanced planning for fiscal 1960 will be used for pre-construction activities. If the feasibility report is cleared by the responsible agencies in Washington, D. C. in sufficient time, the appropriation of money for the initiation of construction of the Curecanti Storage Unit will be requested in hearings before Congressional Appropriations Committees. D. INITIALLY AUTHORIZED PARTICIPATING PROJECTS Of the eleven participating projects authorized by Public Law 485, five are in Colorado, one is in New Mexico, two are in Utah, and three are located in Wyoming. Participating projects will consume water of the Upper Colorado River System for irrigation, municipal and industrial purposes, and will participate in the use of revenues in the Basin Fund to help repay the costs of irrigation features beyond the ability of the water users to repay. It has been impossible for the Bureau of Reclamation to undertake work simultaneously on all eleven participating projects because of the large amount of investigational work needed to firm the development plans and to make cost estimates and repayment studies. Therefore, the Bureau has sought the advice of officials of each State, and, on their recommendations, has selected specific projects on which to concentrate work in order that construction can be started on these projects as soon as possible. The President's budget request to the Second Session of the 85th Congress did not include recommendations for appropriation of construction funds for any of the participating irrigation projects although the Paonia Project in Colorado and the Vernal Unit of the Central Utah Project had been ready for construction since mid 1957. As noted elsewhere in this report, before its adjournment, Congress enacted an appropriation bill that included $1,000,000 for the initiation of the construction of each of these two projects. As a result, both are currently under construction. A brief description of each of the authorized participating projects and the present status of its construction or investigations follows: 1. Authorized Colorado Participating Projects a. Paonia Project This project is located near Paonia and Hotchkiss in westcentral Colorado on the North Fork of the Gunnison River. The Paonia Reser- 35 |