The Carter Administrations decision to ask that $32 million be slashed from the budget of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project could be disastrous to Utah’s water development and a setback to economic objectives, if approved by Congress, The request for a cutback from the $39 million Bonneville Unit budget the Ford Administration approved will be made to Congress Tuesday as part of Carter’s proposed budget revision package, according to news dispatches. The administration is asking that funds be deleted for 18 water projects regarded as “unnecessary and environmentally unsound,” Central Utah Project, of which the Bonneville Unit is the key phase, has been deemed vital through five federal administrations since congressional approval in 1956 as part of the Colorado River Storage Project Act. Now, some 10 years into construction, it is hard to understand how a new administration can consider it either unnecessary or in question environmentally. Timing of the Carter deletion request couldn’t be worse, coming as it does when Utah faces a serious drought crisis. Economic implications also are questionable. The administration, on the one hand, is pushing a $31 billion pump – priming effort to create jobs and stimulate the economy. Now, on the other, it proposes a move that would all but stall a vital water development and throw many people out of work. We wonder if those involved in the Carter request are aware that about 93 per cent of the CUP cost is being financed by the people who benefit from the project. This is NOT a government handout. The voters of CUP counties approved the repayment contract at an election. They did this in good faith. As we see it, stalling by the government is not reciprocating that faith. Already there have been delays ……..at. is in . one r-nmnlc-tinn schedule was set when the project began over a decade ago. But the CUP is at least five years behind schedule because of inadequate funding during the Vietnam war and suits by environmentalists. Suchrdelays during those inflation – plagued years have ballooned the cost burden, And today, instead of being 75 per cent complete, the project is only at the 25 – percent mark. With over $150 million already invested in the project and the major benefits still ahead, it wouldn’t make sense to further delay or drastically – curtail the Bonneville Unit. Members of Utah’s congressional delegation are upset about the administration deletion request, We trust they will join in a unified fight to restore the funds. Presumably they will have considerable support. Yet Washington observers are saying Carter’s budget proposals have a good chance to get through Congress without major changes. The need for Bonneville Unit funding is clear. It is hoped those with the power to act will do so quickly and successfully so that the project can proceed without further delay. $0 They Say “We did not want to cause hardship to anyone, but no government would have tolerated ‘the threats, the violence, the assault on democracy that we faced.” – lndia’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, opening her reelection campaign with an apology for her country’s 19 month state of emergency. “When a woman claims to be a ‘ man’s equal, she’s taking a step downward. Women are what human beings should be – less aggressive, gentler, more tolerant. And women are in reality much more intelligent than men.” – Anthropologist Ashley Montnuu.