Issues Paper, Central Utah Project

Page 43

3£ 3. N. Opportunity Costs Please detail these. Attached to this letter are items we have listed as being appropriate, and sources for recommendations, i.e., water studies, economic analysis, and in consultation with legal and amenity resource experts such as John Krutilla "The Economics of Natural Resources", Resources for the Future pub-" lication. We have included commentary related to the subject and the issues in Utah in this Appendix A. 0. Recreational Development Costs We feel that for several reasons, these costs are part of the cost to the taxpayer for each acre foot of water developed. Firjrt: Although they are not mitigation in kind, these recreational sites on the new reservoirs have been touted as a partial mitigation measure. Second.: Tney are used to build public support for Reclamation Projects. Third: Their development has not been entered into in open, objective and cooperative discussions with the agencies managing public lands and wildlife. The Forest Service has long opposed reservoir development in both Rock Creek and Whiterocks Canyons in the interests of protect­ing outstanding stream and canyon recreation values adjacent to high country wilderness areas. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Forest Service, through the Fish and Wildlife Service, have emphatically and per­sistently advocated the protection of Uinta Range and other northeast Utah wild streams, their fisheries and riparian values, since the early 19 50Ts - in vain! Studies have indicated that Utah has a surplus already of flatwater recreation facilities . Thus a massive#investment in additional flatwater recreational facilities would not be the choice of most recreational planners in investing funds in recreational develop­ment in Utah. (Additional commentary on the value of trout streams in Utah - free flowing streams - is provided under Mitigation Costs and Opportunity Costs) ^Studies on population trends for the Colorado River Basin - state that there is no projected need for more reservoir fishing until the year 2,0 2 0!