Eighteenth Annual report of the Upper Colorado River Commission

page 032

Congressional Hearings on Upper Colorado River Basin Projects The President's Budget for fiscal 1966 did not contain a recommendation for an appropriation of funds for continuing construction of the Central Utah Project by starting its Bonneville Unit. The Upper Colorado River Commission at a special meeting held in Denver, Colorado on March 5, 1965 unanimously endorsed a resolution requesting the U. S. Congress to make money available for this participating project. The text of this resolution was printed in the Commission's Seventeenth Annual Report. The Congress, acting upon testimony received from witnesses before its respective House and Senate Appropriations Committees and on recommendations of those Committees, appropriated $3,500,-000 for initiating construction of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project in fiscal year 1966. Due to the fact that contractors' earnings on other projects exceeded previous estimates, and emergencies occurred on other projects at crucial times, a large portion of the $3.5 million appropriated by the Congress was diverted to other projects. Due to the lack of funds the Board of Directors of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District authorized the expenditure of $40,000 in order for the Bureau of Reclamation to obtain a favorable bid on a construction work camp. The President's Budget for fiscal year 1967 recommended an appropriation of only $2.7 million for continuing construction of the Central Utah Project. Obviously, this sum constituted a mere pittance providing for an inadequate start on a project estimated to cost over $300 million. In efforts to remedy the situation the Commission joined the State of Utah and other organizations in urging the Congress to appropriate a larger sum for construction during fiscal 1967. The text of a resolution unanimously adopted by the Upper Colorado River Commission follows: 32