I find that the Bullshead Dam project is feasible as to its construction from an engineering point of view. I find that it will benefit in many ways the region and the people of the region, and that its economic benefits exceed the annual charges. I find that repayment of the entire cost of its construction with interest at 3 percent may confidently be expected within 40 years. The Bullshead Dam project, consequently, is authorized for construction under the provisions of section 9 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. Construction should be begun as soon as possible in order to meet a prospective serious power deficiency. The Director of the Bureau of the Budget has informed me that authorization of the Bullshead Dam project at this time is in accord with the program of the President. Sincerely yours, (Signed) E. K. BURLEW, Acting Secretary of the Interior. PROVISIONS OF INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION ACT, 1942 [Extract from] An act making appropriations for the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1942, and for other purposes. (Act of June 28, 1941, 55 Stat. 303, 336, Public Law 136, 77th Cong., 1st sess.) *** That the following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1942, - namely: GENERAL FUND, CONSTRUCTION For commencement and continuation of construction of the following projects and for general investigations and administrative expenses in not to exceed the following amounts, respectively, to be expended from the general fund of the Treasury in the same manner and for the same objects of expenditures as specified for projects included hereinbefore in this act under the caption "Bureau of Reclamation" under the heading "Administrative provisions and limitations," but without regard to the amounts of the limitations therein set forth, to be immediately available, to remain available until expended, and to be reimbursable under the Reclamation law: Bullshead project, Arizona-Nevada, $4,000,000, for the purposes and substantially in accordance with the report thereon heretofore submitted under Section nine of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, and subject to the terms of the Colorado River Compact. PARKER-DAVIS CONSOLIDATION An act to consolidate the Parker Dam power project and the Davis Dam project. (Act of May 28, 1954, 68 Stat. 143, Public Law 373, 83d Cong., 2d sess.) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, for the purposes of effecting economies and increased efficiency in the construction, operation, and maintenance thereof and of accounting for the return of reimbursable costs, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to consolidate and administer as a single project to be known as the Parker-Davis project, Arizona-California-Nevada, the projects known as the Parker Dam power project, Arizona-California, and the Davis Dam project, Arizona-Nevada: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or affect in any way the Boulder Canyon Project Act (45 Stat. 1057), the Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act (54 Stat. 774), or the treaty between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, signed at Washington on February 3, 1944, relating to the utilization of the waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande from Fort Quitman, Texas, to the Gulf of Mexico: Provided further, That nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or affect in any way any right or obligation of the United States or any other party under contracts heretofore entered into by the United States. SEC. 2. Funds heretofore appropriated for the Parker Dam power project, Arizona-California, and the Davis Dam project, Arizona-Nevada, shall be consolidated and shall be and remain available for the purposes for which they were appropriated. PINE RIVER PROJECT COLORADO The Pine River project was found feasible by the Secretary_on June 17, 1937, and approved by the President on the same day under the provisions of section 4 of the act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 836) and subsection B of section 4 of the act of December 5, 1924 (43 Stat. 702). OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, THE PRESIDENT, The White House. MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: The following report on the Pine River Reclamation project in the State of Colorado is made to you under the provisions of Section 4 of the Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 835). Section 4 of the Act of June 25, 1910 provides in effect that after the date of that act no irrigation project to be constructed under the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388) and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto shall be undertaken unless and until the project shall have been recommended by the Secretary of the Interior and approved by the direct order of the President. Subsection B, Section 4, Act of December 5, 1924, (43 Stat. 701) provides as follows: That no new project or new division of a project shall be approved for construction or estimates submitted therefor by the Secretary until information in detail shall be secured by him concerning the water supply, the engineering features, the cost of construction, land prices, and the probable cost of development, and he shall have made a finding in writing that it is feasible, that it is adaptable for actual settlement and farm homes, and that it will probably return the cost thereof to the United States. The Pine River project contemplates the construction of a reservoir with 126,000 acre-feet of active storage capacity on the Pine River, 15 miles above Bayfield, Colorado, to supplement the late summer water supply for 34,000 acres of irrigated white and Indian lands and to permit the development of 35,000 acres of undeveloped irrigable lands under constructed ditches or minor extensions thereof located in La Plata and Archuleta counties, Colorado, with a small area in San Juan county, New Mexico. WATER SUPPLY Pine River has an average annual flow of 300,000 acre-feet, derived principally from the spring melting of snows accumulated during the winter months. The low water flow is inadequate to supply the irrigation requirements for the 34,000 acres of irrigated white and Indian-owned lands along the river. In 1930 a Federal Court decreed the Indians a prior right of 212 secondfeet from the Pine River. Expansion of Indian uses is increasing shortages on the white-owned lands and will eventually take all the late summer water. With stream regulation by storage, a full irrigation supply would be secured for the entire project area in all except occasional years of extremely low runoff when shortages as high as 50% may be anticipated. It would be uneconomical to eliminate such shortages completely. Planting of crops can be curtailed in the rare years of serious shortage, as shortages are apparent in advance of the planting season. ENGINEERING FEATURES AND CONSTRUCTION COST The principal construction feature is the Vallecito reservoir to be formed by a dam of the compacted earth embankment type, with a height of 125 feet above streambed and a crest length of 4,000 feet. An open channel spillway, with a capacity of 30,000 second-feet, controlled by three 37' x 19' radial gates is to be provided on the right abutment of the dam. The cost of this dam including right of way and highway relocation around the reservoir site, is estimated as $3,240,000. LAND PRICES Of the total irrigable area of 69,000 acres, 14,000 acres are Indian-owned lands located within the Ute Indian Reservation and the remainder are white-owned lands. The 35,000 acres of undeveloped irrigable lands are covered by sage, pinion, and other desert plants, and are not farmed by reason of inadequate rainfall and lack of dependable late season water supply for irrigation purposes. The repayment contract with the Irrigation District will provide for appraisal of the privately owned non-Indian lands on the basis of values without irrigation and for sale at the appraised values, to new settlers, of holdings in excess of the areas required for a family, with a maximum of 160 acres. Settlers on the small area of public lands will be required to have some capital and farming experience. ADAPTABILITY OF LAND TO SETTLEMENT AND FARM HOMES The land embraced in the project is of average fertility. Rough land and poor soil have been eliminated. The retained land can easily be prepared for the effective application of water. If properly prepared for irrigation and properly cultivated, good yields of all crops grown in this locality are assured. With care in the selection of new settlers, and with farms suitably improved and equipped, success in farming may be anticipated. PROBABLE RETURN TO RECLAMATION FUND OF COST OF A finding is required that the cost of construction will probably be returned to the Reclamation Fund. This is interpreted to mean that it will be returned within the maximum period fixed by Reclamation Law, which is 40 years from the time the public notice that the works are completed, is issued by the Secretary. It is anticipated that at least 10% of the capacity and cost of the reservoir will be allocated to the Indians, leaving about $3,000,000 to be repaid by 55,000 acres of white-owned lands. The construction costs of the project will vary with the amount of storage capacity allotted to each acre of project lands, but the average will probably be about $55 per acre for white-owned lands, making the average yearly payment $1.38 an acre. The additional annual cost for operation and maintenance of the reservoir and for distribution of stored water will average about $0.22 per acre, making total average payment of about $1.60 per acre annually. This charge should not prove burdensome. FINDING REGARDING FEASIBILITY OF PROJECT The foregoing data justify the conclusion that the project is feasible from an engineering and economic standpoint, and I accordingly so find and declare. Because of the urgent need of providing a supplemental water supply for the developed lands to prevent abandonment of lands outside of the Indian reservation because of growing shortages, I recommend that construction of the Pine River project be approved. Sincerely yours, Approved June 17, 1937. (Signed) CHARLES WEST, Acting Secretary of the Interior. (Signed) FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, President. |