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~~ ~:t~. ,.'.J page 4 WRW washn x x x 20 :=====================~============================================= HALL SPEARHEADS LOOK INTO BUREAU OF RECLAMATION FUTURE MISSION Washington--(WRWl--His charge from Interior secretary Donald P. Hodel is simple: what should be the "mission" in the future of the Bureau of Reclamation in the Interior Department? That is what Joe D. Hall, a former Bureau regional director in Denver from 1975-80, who is now with the Western Area Power Adminis- tration (WAPAl, told Western Resources Wrap-up (WRWl in an interview on April 28. Hall is in charge of an experienced inter-agency six- member task force studying the future role of the Bureau. "The Bureau was created to reclaim the arid West" when Congress undertook the federal reclamation program in 1902. "That job has been done," Hall stated. Now the Interior-WAPA task force is checking out possible new frontiers for the Bureau, he observed. He said the task force is looking at three areas specifically. First, at the way that Bureau power is generated. Should the Bureau be generating power in the future? Would it be cheaper and more efficient for a non-federal entity to do it? Secondly, at existing water projects to determine whether they should be turned over to local irrigation districts after payout. WRW asked Hall whether the task force is considering possible transfer of any projects to the U.s. Army Corps of Engineers. His answer was negative. Thirdly, at future water projects. The task force has asked the Bureau regional directors to prioritize the projects that they have in the planning stage and to consider what portions might be built with non-federal financing, such as the hydropower facilities by the new Public Power Development Corporation, for example. (See lead story in this WRW.) The task force is working from only two assumptions, he said. It is assuming that the Bureau will continue to build multiple-pur- pose projects, tho some features might be financed by non-federal interests, and the power will continue to be marketed by the power marketing agencies in the Department of Energy, such as WAPA and the Bonneville Power Administration. "The task force is going to visit all of the regional offices to make a no-holds-barred evaluation of where the Bureau fits into the Western water picture now and in the future. That is the mission that Secretary Hodel assigned to the task force when he signed the letter on March 6 providing for an evaluation of the Bureau's activities. The task force is scheduled to make a report to the Secretary on June 30," Hall told WRW. He underscored that the task force is looking for answers, has come to no. conclusions. Jeanne P. Dickman of the Washington State Water Resources Association, of Yakima, Wash., questioned whether all of the West has been reclaimed.. She was particularly concerned about providing irr igation facili ties for another 500,000 acres in the Columbia Basin Project in Eastern Washington. When it was suggested to her that the sponsors should cost-share such a development, she said they are willing to do so. "We should prepare for the day when we are going to need additional irrigated land," she maintained. Hall asked the bottom-line question in this era of farm surpluses: "Do we need to build another irrigation project at this time?" HCM (more) .1 " ~ ! ~ I l , , .. ',.' !,; ,... " ~ I r<i. ~ , '< :$, ~ ~ ~: ~ '< ::~ ;'1