OCR Text |
Show Bureau of Reclamation to cooperate fully in making plans that will insure the most appro- priate recreational use of the Dinosaur Na- tional Monument, under the circumstances. Similar problems will arise in other parts of the basin. In some instances valuable fishing streams will be replaced by lake fishing, as would be the case at the Gurecanti site on the Gunnison River in Colorado. The regimen of the flow of streams in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Mon- ument, the Grand Canyon National Park, and the Grand Canyon National Monument would be af- fected by upstream works. In each instance, how- ever, separate consideration would be given the rela- tive merits of the proposed project and its effect on other water uses, including recreation. For example, conflicts which would occur through a bypass of water at Kanab Creek and at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison have been averted through eliminating the prospective power diversion tunnel features from present programs. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the Glen Canyon Reservoir will not conflict with the scenic value of the Rainbow Bridge National Monument, as a relatively small retaining dam preventing en- croachment on the bridge area was included in the plan. This has not yet been studied by the National Park Service. Not all of these proposals and adjustments are yet understood or accepted by spokesmen of recreation groups. Even after the Secretarial decision on the Dinosaur National Monument, articles continued in periodicals with national circulation attacking the proposed plans in every detail. Opposition to all projects impinging on accepted scenic reservations could not be considered allayed in 1950. Conclusions There is a growing national need for the types of recreation to be found in the Colorado Basin. Some of this could be satisfied by the formation of new reservoirs as planned. However, the great ap- peal of the natural scene in the basin should be an important determinant of final plans and program. A river basin commission for the Colorado, as suggested by this Commission, would have as one foremost task final technical reconciliation of recre- ation's place in a fully comprehensive multiple- purpose program. After acceptance of basic phases of a plan, further coordination of detailed planning among all agencies will be necessary. However, to reach the most beneficial combination of uses will require better basic information and an increase in effort and expenditure for recreation planning to keep pace with the present planning of water developments. 2. Mineral Developments Versus Irrigation and Other Water Uses The Problem Likelihood of competition between mineral ex- ploitation and other consumptive use, including irrigation water supplies. The Situation The Colorado Basin has many mineral resources. Enormous beds of coal occur. Natural gas, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, gold, silver, vanadium, radium, uranium, and other mineral deposits sup- port vital mining industries. Phosphate rock for fertilizer and oil shale for petroleum products lie in large deposits awaiting development in the upper basin. The mineral industry has an interest in flowing streams as a source of water necessary for mining, milling, and extracting metals or other minerals from their ores. Hydroelectric power is also sig- nificant for some mineral industries because of heavy demands for electrochemical treatment or other processing. Low-cost power is important to electrochemical industries because they usually are based on raw materials available in abundance. Such industry enables the building of more stable communities, with hope of surviving long periods, as contrasted with the "ghost towns" of traditional mining enterprise. Conflict of interest.-Conflict in use between mining and other uses of water is a matter of future as well as of immediate concern in the Colorado Basin. Minerals generally are at the higher eleva- tions, and water is often a controlling feature in operation of the mines. Although little water is consumptively used at the mines, in the beneficia- tion of ores large quantities of water are often used to carry away wastes, polluting the streams below. (See problem A-6.) A conflict may develop between irrigation use of water and the requirements for water in the upper basin when the national interest makes it desirable or necessary to make liquid fuels from oil shales. The northeastern corner of Utah, south- 405 |