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Show DIXIE PROJECT, UTAH 91 Mr. ROGERS. The statement will be included in the record the same in fact as though read in full and you may discuss it as you desire. ( Mr. Dominy's prepared statement follows:) Mr. Chairman, the investigation of the Dixie project over the past 24 years has been characterized by the patience, perseverance, and cooperative attitude of the concerned local and State interests. Our investigations have always indicated the Dixie project to be a sound economic undertaking, but due to accident of physical location we have had difficulty in demonstrating the required repayment of reimbursable project costs. Had the Dixie project been located in any basin of the West where a basin account or other means of financial assistance to irrigation from basin powerplants has been available as a matter of policy, I am confident that it would have been authorized and constructed long ago. As Mr. Holum has just indicated, this repayment hurdle has now been cleared. It is with particular pleasure, therefore, that I appear before you in support of the Dixie project. I also would prefer to see the Dixie project authorized as part of a regional development plan such as our Pacific Southwest water plan. The overriding water problems of the Pacific Southwest are regional in nature and cannot be resolved satisfactorily by separating them for independent treatment. The Dixie project, however, would have only a very minor effect on the water supplies of the Lower Colorado River basin. In view of the fact that the prospective water and power users have indicated willingness to assume the financial burdens necessary to full repayment of reimbursable project costs, and in view of their long wait, I do not believe they should be denied action that will make the Dixie project a reality at the earliest possible time. Should the Dixie project be authorized as an independent project, prior to the authorization of a regional plan, I believe that it should not be precluded from later enjoying the benefits from participating in a regional development program, especially as relates to a basin development fund. '. The Dixie project would be a multipurpose development that, through storage of the flows of the Virgin River and of its tributary, the Santa Clara River, would provide for supplemental irrigation water to 9,445 acres of presently developed land and for a full irrigation water supply to 11,615 acres of presently dry land. It would also provide for the production of electric energy; furnish municipal and industrial water supplies; conserve fish and wildlife resources; and provide recreation, flood control, and sediment control. The existing supply of water, practically all of which is obtained by direct diversion, is undependable as well as inadequate for the arable lands within the project area. Provision of 246,000 acre- feet of storage space at the Virgin City Reservoir on the Virgin River and 23,745 acre- feet at the lower Gunlock site on the Santa Clara River would provide the needed regulation. |