Issues Paper, Central Utah Project

Page 51

11. X. At the projected point of completion, what will be the actual allocation of the Project's water among users including the Ute Tribe? Please identity each entity i.e., water user association, industry, conservancy district. The following questions deal with policy and issues of authorization of Bureau of Reclamation water development-purposes. XI. Army Corps of Engineer Permits At the present time, the Central Utah Water Conser­vancy District and the local office of the Bureau of Reclamation are refusing to file for 40 4 Dredge and Fill Permits. They are refusing to do so on the Bonneville Unit and on the planned Uintah Unit. Is this acceptable? XII. Mai-Appropriation of Section 8 Funds At the present time, it is planned to use Section 8 Funds to pay for Bottle Hollow Reservoir, Lower Still­water Reservoir, wildlife areas along the Duchesne River and the transfer to the Ute Tribe of Midview Reservoir. It is claimed that these facilities are mitigation measures and thus qualify for Section 8 Funds. However, a careful reading of the 19 5 5 Deferral Agreement, as presented in the Bonneville EIS leads one to question this._ It appears from reading this document that these facilities are not mitigation measures, but represent a payment to the Ute Indian Tribe, for use of their water from 1965 to the year 2,005, a payment to- rent their water for 40 years. Through manipulations of the local Bureau of Reclamation officials and Central Utah Water Conservancy officials, the Federal government has assumed this expense as a non-reimbursable expense of the^Bonneville Unit. We are concerned that this trans­action be examined and a determination made whether or not thisi/ater rental payment qualifies for Section 8 Funding. If^it is determined that these funds have been misappro­priated, this raises the question of official misconduct. XIII. The Overall Direction of Bureau of Reclamation Policies • Historically, one has the belief that the Bureau of Reclamation sjas created to promote agricultural expan­sion in rural areas of the arid west and to aid economic expansion in these economically depressed areas. Analysis of Breau planning and spending shows how far the Agency has departed from these earlier mandates. Much Bureau" spending is concentrated in large, complex projects, now called multi-purpose projects, serving urban areas of the west. Agricultural water is gradually having less and less money appropriated for it. In fact, under