State officials grilled Water Development Office Director Jason Mead this week over ballooning costs and uncertainties dogging three dam projects after he told them one project on the Colorado border would cost $150 million, nearly double the original estimate of $80 million.

Mead provided the new estimate for the proposed West Fork Dam above the Little Snake River Valley while seeking an additional $500,000 to study it. The controversial plan would swap state land for Forest Service property to enable construction of a 264 foot-high, 700-foot long concrete dam. Forty-four irrigators have expressed interest in purchasing water for supplemental irrigation, although prices have yet to be set.

Mead also will seek $1.5 million more to research easement problems dogging the proposed Alkali Da

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