CHAPTER 3 WATER FROM UNCLE SAM
| Jurisdiction | United States |
(Mar 1978)
WATER FROM UNCLE SAM
Bureau of Reclamation Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C.
INTRODUCTION
In 1977, the Bureau of Reclamation celebrated its diamond jubilee year. For 75 years we have conducted a cooperative and mutually beneficial program of developing and managing water resource projects in the 17 Western States. Several billion dollars have been invested in project facilities to make much of the arid West more habitable and more productive. That investment has generated benefits for the local, regional, and national economies that have doubled, redoubled, and redoubled again the value of that investment.
Water resource development then and now is a cooperative endeavor, a marriage of the local interests, the State, and the Federal Government. With the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 a fourth partner representing environmental interests was added to this relationship which resulted in a more comprehensive environmental and social awareness in the Bureau's program.
There have been some stormy and quarrelsome times, but the cooperative efforts among the partners have made the relationship work. The common goal of providing sufficient quantities of water to sustain a better quality life while protecting the environment has prevailed. As a consequence, meaningful accomplishments can be identified for irrigation, public recreation, fish and wildlife conservation, improved water quality, hydroelectric power, flood control, municipal and industrial water service, and other project purposes.
Benchmark criteria that illustrate program achievements include:1
320 storage reservoirs
344 diversion dams
14,400 miles of canals
900 miles of pipelines
205 miles of tunnels
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34,670 miles of laterals
15,200 miles of project drains
145 pumping plants
50 powerplants
16,240 circuit miles of transmission lines.
Any way you look at the record, Reclamation accomplishments can be translated into a higher quality of life in the West and in the East.
Some 27.9 million acre-feet of water were delivered in 19761 for agricultural, municipal and industrial, and other nonagricultural uses. The gross value of all crops produced on Reclamation projects has exceeded $4 billion annually since the early 1970's. Some 62.4 million visitor-days have been accounted for at the 268 recreation areas which are primarily an outgrowth of Reclamation development. Reclamation marketed 60.9 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power generated at its 50 powerplants and at other Federal powerplants for electrical energy revenues of $283 million.
These are only a few of the statistics that reflect the workings of this 75-year cooperative venture that began in 1902 when President Theodore Roosevelt signed the original Reclamation Act. The requirement that the project costs for the purpose of irrigation be repaid in full (without interest)2 and that the responsibilities for operation, maintenance, and replacement of the facilities be turned over to the water users were included in that act and subsequent Reclamation law.
The record shows that the goal of local management has been achieved insofar as possible. Of the 174 operating projects providing water service in 1976, 113 were operated entirely by water users' organizations, and 35 were operated jointly by water users' organizations and the Federal Government. Only 26 were operated solely by the United States. It is our policy to encourage the transfer of the responsibilities to operate and maintain Reclamation projects to the local entities as rapidly as those organizations are prepared and capable of assuming that chore.
LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY
Historical Background
As a prelude to discussing the legislative authorities governing municipal and industrial water supply from Federal Reclamation
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projects, some general observations on the sequence of events leading up to the present time are useful. The early legislation was specifically directed toward the irrigation of arid lands in the Western United States and did not contain provisions relating to municipal and industrial water. However, the economic growth and development stimulated by the irrigation and hydropower contributed directly to the need for the broader authority to make use of water for municipal and industrial purposes.
Reclamation law was later refined and extended to the point where now municipal and industrial water supply is recognized as one of the major functions in contemporary multipurpose projects. Municipal and industrial water supply has been authorized as the main or primary purpose of several Bureau projects in recent years. Most developments include reservoir facilities on which there is also opportunity for outdoor recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement. Thus, with the passage of time, Congress has recognized purposes other than irrigation and power by gradually expanding Reclamation law to provide for the construction of multipurpose projects.
Evolution of Statutes
The initial 1902 Reclamation Act was directly related to the vast amount of federally owned land in the Western United States. While much of this land was arid in nature, it was, nevertheless, capable of sustaining irrigated agriculture when an adequate water supply was made available. As these public lands were opened for homestead entry on newly created Reclamation projects, provision was made to reserve land from the public domain needed to establish townsites in connection with the projects. Accordingly, the Act of April 16, 1906, authorized the Secretary of the Interior to contract with such towns and furnish them a water right from the project on terms comparable to the water rights for irrigation. Pursuant to that act many towns and cities have been receiving a dependable municipal water supply from Reclamation facilities, and such water has been basic to their economic growth and development.
The increasing need to furnish water for purposes other than irrigation resulted in Congress passing the Act of February 25, 1920. That act authorized the Secretary to enter into contracts for such other service under terms of delivery and payment which he deemed proper. The sale of water contained three limitations: first, the water user's association had to approve the contract; second, there could be no other practicable source of water supply; and third, delivery of water for other purposes could not be detrimental to the water service for the irrigation projects. Many sales of water to municipalities in or near Reclamation projects were consummated pursuant to the 1920 Act.
The next action taken by Congress with regard to providing water service, other than for irrigation, was passage of the Reclamation
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Project Act of August 4, 1939. Municipal and industrial water was recognized as a major benefit in considering the authorization and construction of multiple-purpose projects. Under that authority, the Secretary, in estimating the cost and returns of such a project, would take into account a part of the estimated cost which could be properly allocated to municipal and industrial water supplies or other miscellaneous uses. In a similar fashion, that part of the total water supply, to be made available for municipalities and for industrial purposes, was to be reserved on an equal basis with other authorized uses. The 1939 Act granted further authority to the Secretary of the Interior to contract with municipal and industrial water users to repay (with interest) their portion of the allocated cost, including a share of annual operation and maintenance costs.
The Water Supply Act of July 3, 1958, supplements the general provisions of Reclamation law regarding municipal and industrial water development. Provisions of the Water Supply Act are alternative to corresponding provisions of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. The main objective of the Water Supply Act is to encourage maximum use of limited development sites to provide for future water needs. Provisions to accommodate this...
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