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Show programs affect the character of basin development and the repayment of Federal funds used for water resources projects? The Situation For more than a century the Federal Govern- ment has played an important role in harnessing water resources and converting them to the bene- ficial use of the Nation. During this time water resources policies have been modified and adjusted to meet the growing needs of a complex and dynamic society. Frequently, new policies have evolved to meet specific situations or to solve par- ticular economic or social needs of the time. As a result present policies governing the control and use of water resources, and written into the law, contain many inconsistencies and are responsible for many conflicts. Uniformity is lacking in Federal policies regard- ing participation by beneficiaries in Federal water resources projects, particularly in those involving irrigation and drainage developments. It is not intended here to set forth all the dif- ferences in requirements for local participation under the four or more Federal agencies that have some responsibilities in irrigation and related drain- age works. It is enough here to invite atten- tion to a lack of uniformity in requirements as to repayments by the beneficiaries. This subject calls for a study to recommend a uniform policy so as to remove delays and hindrances to full development of the water resources of the Rio Grande Basin. Under flood control legislation, reservoir storage for flood control purposes only is usually provided entirely at Federal expense. Under reclamation law, storage of water for irrigation use is reimburs- able in 40 years without interest by the irrigation beneficiaries. Under the Farmers Home Admin- istration, engineering services for installing and re- habilitating small irrigation projects are available at no cost to farmers. Loans are made for such works requiring reimbursement in 20 years at 3 percent interest. In the West, practically all stor- age reservoirs serve the combined purposes of flood control and irrigation either as primary functions or incidental to the primary purpose. In some in- stances, determination of the primary purpose of a reservoir may be difficult. Storage reservoirs in- volving both irrigation and flood control features in varying degrees have been authorized and built both by the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. Because flood control storage is provided at Fed- eral expense and the cost of irrigation storage gen- erally must be reimbursed, the view is held by large groups of people in the West that a multiple-purpose reservoir providing irrigation service, if constructed under flood control law rather than under reclama- tion law, will provide the irrigation service to project beneficiaries at a lesser cost. These groups feel further that irrigation service provided by reservoirs built under flood-control law waives other require- ments such as the 160-acre limitation, antispecula- tion, and other provisions contained in reclamation law. The method of determining repayment for the furnishing of irrigation water at Army Engineer reservoir projects when section 8 of the 1944 Flood Control Act is not applicable differs from that which would be required either for a project gov- erned by section 8 or for one governed by the Rec- lamation Project Act of 1939. Thus the irrigation water users might fear that their repayment obliga- tion would be greater if the provisions of either the 1939 Reclamation Act or section 8 of the Flood Control Act were to be used as the legislative basis for project authorization. Again, when section 8 is not applicable to an Army reservoir project serving irrigation purposes, the 160-acre land limitation generally applicable under the reclamation law does not apply to irri- gated lands served by such project. These varia- tions have led to dissension between certain local groups, competition and duplication of work be- tween Federal agencies, and a "shopping around" by local people in an attempt to get the best deal they can. Examples of the effect of such variations of policy have arisen in the Rio Grande Basin. Authorization of the Valley Gravity Project for irrigating lands in the lower Rio Grande Valley was obtained as a result of a report by the Inter- national Boundary and Water Commission in 1940. The Bureau of Reclamation was designated in 1941 as the agency to construct all features except those which are international in character. Subsequent to this authorization, consummation of the inter- national treaty with Mexico and the construction of storage works on the Rio Grande River by the International Boundary and Water Commission has led to the need for revision in the plan. The Bureau of Reclamation has prepared such a revised plan. Solution of the drainage problem, which is inti- mately related to irrigation, is a major part of the 911610-51- -23 331 |