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Show At the time of construction, no allocations were made; the entire cost of the project was to be re- turned to the Federal Government, and the power features which generated about 465 million kilo- watt-hours of energy in 1948, were turned over to the Salt River Valley Water Users Association. The San Carlos Project was constructed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs at a cost of 2.3 million dollars for the power facilities. Annual revenues which vary somewhat (in 1949, revenues were $790,000; in 1950, $609,000) are placed in a special trust fund from which annual operation and main- tenance costs are drawn, and in years of low runoff, such funds are used to purchase power from other sources. Future plans for the Colorado Basin envision large expenditures for power development. In the upper basin the sparse population, combined with the very large potential production, has caused the Bureau of Reclamation to plan a gradually ex- panding power program in order that the supply can keep pace with market demand. The 10 units of the Colorado River Storage Proj- ect3 will have an installed capacity of 1.6 million kilowatts, and the latest cost estimates by the Bureau of Reclamation have allocated total power costs of 1,206 million dollars, of which 320 million dollars are for irrigation pumping and 886 million dollars for commercial power. This power investment is expected to return all investment costs and, through use of the interest component, make available over a 70-year period 707 million dollars for irrigation developments. The potential Marble Canyon Project is a hydro- electric development in the lower basin designed to use the fall between the Glen Canyon site and the upper end of the Grand Canyon. At present construction costs it would cost approximately 240 million dollars. No studies have been made concerning benefits and revenues. Tentative cost allocations to power in the pro- posed Central Arizona Project are 244 million dol- lars. Present plans call for power rates which would amortize the power investment, with the 8 Ten conservation storage and power developments proposed for the Colorado Basin are designated by the Bureau of Reclamation as the Colorado River Storage Project. The 10 units are: Bridgeport, Gurecanti, and Crystal on Gunnison River; Echo Park, Flaming Gorge, Gray Canyon, and Split Mountain on the Green River; Cross Mountain on the Yampa River; Martinez on the San Juan; and Glen Canyon on the Colorado main stem. interest component of power revenues being used as a Federal contribution to irrigation. Several other potential projects would include hydroelectric power developments. No cost or rev- enue calculations have been made, but altogether they would involve much smaller expenditures than any of those described above. Recreation At the present time the National Park Service administers the Lake Mead national recreational area, comprising the recreation facilities in and around Lake Mead, impounded by Hoover Dam, and Lake Mojave, impounded by Davis Dam. Funds for the administration of this national recre- ation area are obtained by direct appropriation from Congress, and revenues obtained from the op- eration of recreation facilities are deposited to the credit of Bureau of Reclamation project accounts. Approximately 5 million dollars has been expended for facilities thus far. Development is lagging behind needs. The Corps of Engineers does not allocate any part of the cost of water control projects to recre- ation benefits. However, the Bureau of Reclama- tion, using estimates furnished by the National Park Service, allocates recreation benefits and costs in proportion with other benefits of multiple-purpose water projects. Recreation benefit evaluations are furnished the Bureau of Reclamation by the Na- tional Park Service based upon an empirical for- mula which assesses the recreation benefits as being the equivalent of the costs of construction, main- tenance, and operation of recreation facilities around the reservoir, plus an equal amount esti- mated as the recreation benefit of the creation of the reservoir itself. Fish and Wildlife Refuges Planned full improvement of three existing wild- life refuges and one fish hatchery is estimated to require $190,000. Development of several poten- tial projects under the financial provisions of the Pittman-Robertson Act4 would cost about 1 mil- lion dollars. (See table 7.) 4 Act of September 2, 1937, §3, 50 Stat. 917, a& amended, 16 U. S. C. 669b. 385 |