WSP10052

• File Number: 8220.111
• Description: Central Utah Participating Project
• State: UT
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 1/1/1987
• Title: Western Resources Wrap-up: 1987 & 1992
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: News Article/Press Release

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Page 2 WRW washn x x x circumstances

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Holum noted that the Administration's 1988 fiscal year (FY)
budget "provides $134 million for Central Utah, while essentially
terminating other meritorious (Bureau water) projects. Our offer
would add approximately $80 million to the available funds. We are
willing to proceed--and are strongly of the view that a decision
needs to be made in 1987," the Holum letter to stennis stated.
PPDC proposed to finance hydro facilities of the Bonneville
Uni t thru the sale of taxable bonds, Hol um said. They would be
"built, owned and operated ,by the Bureau of Reclamation, and the
power would be marketed by WAPA under existing law," he stated. "We
also have agreed to finance the power facilities required for
irrigation pumping. Finally, we would follow tradition by agreeing
that power revenues, after payout, be used to assist irrigation
repayment under terms to be negotiated," Holum said.
Discussions to date have been exploratory only, Holum
insisted. "Preliminary notice" in the Federal Register "would not
bind the United States.. .PPDC would not be bound either until
contracts have been negotiated and the parties all know that
proceeding is economically feasible," Holum wrote Stennis.
PPDC was incorporated in 1986 to respond to the call by the
Administration and Congress "for more non-federal financing" of
features of authorized federal water projects of the Bureau of
Reclamation and the U.s. Army Corps of Engineers, he said. "We are
offering to provide non-federal funds for the hydro-electric
facilities at multi-purpose projects," Holum stated,
FEAR OF LOSING CONTROL OF PROJECT SAYS LOCAL SPONSOR
Don Christiansen, general manager of CUWCD, told WRW in an
interview on April 28 his water district had asked the Utah
delegation to delay the Federal Register notice because "we were at
our wits' end. We were afraid we were losing control of our project.
It doesn't mean that we don't like Ken Holum and his proposal. I
never met Ken Holum. That was our problem. We felt we were on the
outside looking in during discussions that the Bureau and Western
had with PPDC about our project hydro facilities," he said.
Christiansen continued, "We have a water project to build, and
we want to build it with as few hassles as possible. We are looking
at the possibilities of more cost-sharing on irrigation, of building
the hydro facilities ourselves. We have a ceiling problem. The
ceiling on the Colorado River storage project (CRSP) has to be
raised in 1989 or 1990. We want to keep our options open at this
time. We do not want to bargain away Diamond Fork, a card that we
might need later for our revenue stream," he said.
When the talks between PPDC and the "feds" got underway, he
continued, "we were told only what the Bureau wanted us to know--not
much. We had to push our way into those meetings thru the Bureau.
These fellows (PPDC, the Bureau and WAPA) were determined to put a
notice in the Federal Register in April. We kept saying, 'Slow down,
guys. Increase our level of comfort. Can't you slow down and keep
that notice out of the Federal Register for awhile?' We were at our
wits' end. That was when we turned to our Congressional delegation,"
Christiansen told WRW. (more)

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