OCR Text |
Show A. Distribution of Benefits and Responsibilities /. The Place of State and Local Participation in Planning, Programing, Financing, and Opera- tion The Problem The extent to which State organizations should participate, or be called upon to participate in planning, programing, financing, and operation of water resources development. The Situation The place of State Governments in a program of water resources development probably is more dif- ficult to determine for the Columbia Basin than for any other major section of the country. The large amount of land under Federal ownership (over half), the relatively sparse present popula- tion, the well-established legal traditions concern- ing water rights, and sharp divisions of interest among different parts of the Pacific Northwest make the extent and direction of State participation indeterminate and a problem for successful planning and operation. The following particulars must be taken account of in planning: (1) Legally warranted water rights in irrigable areas must be considered in planning new facilities. (2) State water laws may be an obstacle to full development, as in the case of lake-level regulation in northern. Idaho. Legal levels are set by Idaho law for the Avater in Priest, Pend Oreille, and Coeur d'Alene Lakes, thereby preventing the most efficient storage use of these lakes. (3) Ladk of consistency in national policy is an obstacle to equitable local participation in various phases of the Columbia Basin program. Under flood control legislation, beneficiaries of flood con- trol reservoirs are not required to participate in the project costs because the benefits are widespread, and often interstate. Beneficiaries of some local flood pro tec tion projects, however, do participate in the construction costs as well as in maintenance and operation of the completed works. Reclamation law, on the other hand, calls for repayment of a sub- stantial part of the cost by the water users. Recent interpretations have tended to reduce the propor- tion of water users' contributions. The policy for soil and water conservation operations limits Fed- eral contributions to technical assistance and incen- tive payments, the latter to be kept at the minimum required to bring about the installation of measures considered in the public interest, and not to exceed, in general, one-half of the farmers' "out-of-pocket" costs. Still different policies govern other activities in the basin. (4) The preponderance of federally owned lands in some areas has created local attitudes which are sensitive about further extension of Federal control. It is reported to have limited the opportunity for private enterprise and alternative occupation, as in the valleys of western Montana. Opposition has been intense to projects with general basin-wide benefits where local benefits are not clearly ap- parent. (5) Operation of the reservoirs and other facili- ties of the Columbia and tributaries must be under- taken in a unified manner if full potentialities are to be realized. Operation has interstate and even international implications. Operation of the streams, therefore, is a matter for Federal concern. (6) The existence of a number of public utility districts and municipally owned electric power dis- tribution systems entitled to preferential purchase of power produced at federally owned generating facilities makes relationships between Federal and local governmental units closer and more frequent than in most areas of the country. (7) State participation in the planning process is complicated by organizational inadequacies. Although the activities of the Columbia Basin Inter- Agency Committee have made such participation more successful than in most other parts of the country, lack of a unified voice in State views, lack of funds for State resource agencies, and different types of administrative organization have retarded the effectiveness of State participation in the Co- lumbia Basin, as elsewhere. Conclusions In recognizing the above facts, further develop- ment on the Columbia may well be approached so as to: (1) Encourage prompt and effective participa- tion of interested State agencies throughout the entire project-planning procedure. (2) Develop thoroughly integrated plans for project areas which take account of all local prob- lems created by construction, before public com- mitments are made. 38 |