85th Congress
lst Session H. R.
IN THE HOUSE OF IDJPRESBNTATIVES JANUARY _ _ _ , 1957
A BILL
To authorize the consti'ru.ction, operation, and maintenance by the Secretary of the Interior of the Upper Arkansas Basin Project, Colorado.
Be it enacted by the Senate and Rouse of Reoresentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of sugplying water for irrigation, municipal, domestic, and industrial uses, controlling floods, :providing for the preservation and propagation of
fish and ,-Tildlife, and preserving and iI!l_!>roving recreational o:p!)ortunities, and for other useful and beneficial purposes, the Secretary of the Interior, acting pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws, Act of June 17, 1902
(32 Stat. J88), and Acts a.mendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, as far as those laws are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, is hereby authorized to construct, operate, and maintain certain works of improvement on the Upper Arkansas River, Colorado (such works to be designated collectively as the ~er Arkansas Basin project), in substantial accordance with the engineering :plans therefor set forth in House Document Numbered 187, Eighty-third Congress, first session, excluding therefron all water features
related to any transmountain diversion from the Colorado River Basin, and excluding all power features, but ,-,ith such modifications of, omissions from, or additions to the works therein described within the Upper Arkansas Basin
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-as the Secretary may, from time to time, find necessary or proper for
accomplis.liing the objectives of the Upper Arkansas Basin project.
SEC. 2· (a) Contracts to repay that portion of the cost of the Upper Arkansas Basin project which is allocated to irrigation and assigned to be repaid by irrigation water users ( exclusive of such portion of said cost as m8iY" be derived from temporary water supply contracts or from other sources) shall be entered into pursuant to subsection (d), section
9,
of the Reclamation Project Act of1939 (53
Stat.
1187),
and may provide that the general r0!)ayment obligation shall be spread in annual installments, in number and amounts satis-factory to the Secretary, over a period of not more than50
years, which period shall be inclusive of an;y- permissible development period, for a.n;y project contract unit or for an;y- irrigation block, if thepro-ject contract unit be divided into two or more irrigation blocks. (b) Notwithstanding a:n:y provision of law to the contrary, net revenues derived from the furnishing of ,-rater for municipal, domestic, and industrial uses shall first be applied to the amortization, with interest, of those portions of the actual cost of construction of the project which are allocated to municipal, domestic, and industrial water
SU!)ply and shall thereafter be applied to amortization of that portion
of said actual cost which is allocated to irrigation but which is be-yond the ability of the irrigation water users to return during the
per-iod hereinbefore specified. The interest rate on the unamortized balance of the municipal, domestic, and industrial water-supply allocations shall
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-3-be equal to the average rate (which rate shall -3-be certified by the Secretary of the Treasury) :paid by the United States on its long-term loans outstanding on the date of this Act.
(c) No part of the specific municipal water-suppzy systems
described in House Document nuobered 187, Eighty-third Congress, shall be constructed by the Secretary in the absence of evidence satisfactory to him that it would be infeasible for the cor:nnuni ties involved to con-struct such works themselves, singly or jointly. In the event it is de-ter.:iined that such facilities a.re to be constructed by the SecretarJ, a contract :providing, among other things, for p~ment of the actual cost thereof with interest, including interest during construction, at a rate equal to the average rate paid by the United States on its lon.g,-term loans outstanding on the date of this Act and rep~ent period of not to exceed
50
years after coI:I:nencement of service and as rapidly as is con-sistent with the contracting parties• ability top~, and for assumptionby the contracting :party or parties of the care, operation, maintenance, and replacement of the works, shall be a condition ~recedent thereto.
SEC.
3·
The Secretary is authorized to plan, construct, operate, and maintain public recreational facilities on lands withdrawn or ac-quired for the developnent of the Up~er Arkansas Basin project, to con-serve the scenery, the natural, historic, and archeologic objects, and the wildlife on said lands and to provide for public use and enjoyment of the same and of the water areas created by these projects by such means as are consistent ,-Ti th the primary purposes of said project and to mitigate losses of and improve conditions for the :propagnation of fish•
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-and wildlife in connection with the development of the tJ:'9:per Arkansas Basin project. The Secretary is authorized to acquire lands and to withdraw public lands from entry or other disposition under the public land laws for the construction, operation, and maintenance of recreational facilities in connection with the said project, and to dispose of them to Federal, State, and local governmental agencies by lease, transfer, exchange, or conveyance, upon such terms and conditions as will best promote their development and operation in the public interest. The costs, including the operation and maintenance costs of a.11 said undertakings, shall be nonre-turnable under the reclamation laws, and f'Unds appropriated for car~Jing out the authorization contained in section 1 of this Act shall, without prejudice to the availability of other appropriated moneys for the same purpose, also be available for carrying out the investigations and
pro-grams authorized in this section.
SEC.
4.
In the determination of the priorities of water to be used under the provisions of the Act, the provisions of the laws of the State of Colorado shall apply.SEC.
5.
There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for construction of the Upper Arkansas Basin project the sum of$58,
000/ OOPplus or minus such amounts, if aey, as ~ be justified by reason of ordinary fluctuations inconstruction costs as indicated by engineering cost indexes applicable to the type of construction involved herein.
