OCR Text |
Show parts of river basin programs affecting all aspects of the economic life of entire regions. Under these circumstances, Congress has permitted allo- cations of portions of the cost of such projects to several nonreimbursable purposes, thus reducing the proportion of the project cost which must be reimbursed by users of irrigation water. Fur- thermore, Congress has recognized that in certain circumstances utility-type contracts may be sub- stituted for the earlier repayment policy. Under the earlier policy, water users became primarily obligated to repay the entire cost of a project and in certain cases acquired therewith the function of maintaining and operating the project and a right to enjoy all project benefits as well as a continuing right to irrigation water. Whether the utility type of water service con- tract, or some other modification of the original repayment type, may prove best adapted to the relationship of given irrigation projects to mul- tiple-purpose basin programs, Congress should continue to recognize the vital relationship be- tween water and land in the areas of low rain- fall. And in authorizing such programs, it should adopt appropriate measures to enable irri- gation water users to continue to use water. Such measures should provide for use in accordance with State law governing use of water, as tradi- tionally provided by Congress in legislation such as the Reclamation Act of 1902. In order to restore consistency and justice in reimbursement policy on a basis adapted to com- prehensive multiple-purpose basin development, the Commission is convinced that there are only two broad alternatives: 1. Reorganization and extension of the reim- bursement principle to provide a more general participation of local and regional interests in financial responsibility for water resources pro-} grams. This would require combining the fiscal powers of the Federal Government with the as- sessment and tax powers of State and local gov- ernments, through the medium of an agreed re- imbursement plan for secondary benefits and pri- mary benefits like flood control for which direct charges can hardly be made, or 2. Elimination of the reimbursement require- ment from all except vendible commodities and services such as electric power and municipal and industrial water supply, on the theory that the country-wide water resources program is produc- tive of general benefits, the costs of which can best be equitably apportioned by utilizing the revenues of the Federal Government. The first alternative appears to the Commission to be the most desirable from all points of view. But it can be made effective only with the full cooperation of the States. RECOMMENDATIONS General On this basis, the Commission offers the follow- ing recommendations for reimbursement policy: 1. Congress, in drafting new legislation or in amending or consolidating existing legislation, should provide for a uniform national reimburse- ment policy, and specify the principles to be applied. 2. In order to remove existing inequities in reimbursement requirements and to recover un- earned increments which might otherwise ac- crue from public expenditures for water resources development, reimbursement procedure should be as follows: (a) For those goods and services directly sub- ject to Federal control and disposition, such as power and water supply, the responsible Federal agency should collect from beneficiaries as far as possible for benefits received. (b) For benefits best recapturable through local institutions, a mutually agreeable plan should be worked out between the responsible Federal agency and the State or local govern- ments, under which the assessment and tax pow- ers of such State and local governments may be used to secure reimbursement. This could be accomplished through provision for the setting up of soil conservation, irrigation, conservancy, or other districts to contract with the appropri- ate Federal agency for annual repayments. (c) In those States where Federal lands con- stitute a significant portion of the total areas (in the West from 30 to 80 percent) the primary 83 |