SMALL-BUSINESS owners who have been thwarted in getting their lawful share of federal contracts are hoping to find some relief from new proposals being floated by the Bush administration.

At Julesburg, near the Nebraska border, the Platte was a bare trickle, exactly the way Potato Brumbaugh had planned, but as the river crossed the state line, waters escaping from the irrigation ditches returned, so that in the end Nebraska received its lawful share.