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<br />REPORT ON AUDIT OF lJpPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN WATER
<br />RESOURCES DEVELQPMENT PROGRAM, BUREAU OF RECLA-
<br />MATION, DEPARTMENT OF tHE INTERIOR, FOR THE FISCAL
<br />YEARS 1957-59
<br />
<br />The General Accountjng Office has made an audit of selected
<br />activities of the Bureau of 'Reclamation, Department of the Interior,
<br />in the upper Colorado 'River basin for the fiscal years ended June 30,
<br />1957, 1958, and 1959: This audit was made pursuant to the Budget
<br />and Accounting Act, 1921 (31 U,S,C. 53), and the Accoupting and
<br />Auditing Act of 1950 (31 U.S,C, 67), The scope of the audit work
<br />performed is described on page 51 of this report.
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<br />GENERAL COMMENTS
<br />
<br />The upper Colorado Rher basin is designated as those parts of the
<br />States of Arizona, Colorallo, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming within
<br />and from whicb waters nliturally drain into the Colorado 'River system
<br />above Lee Ferry, Arizona,
<br />The key projects in the development of water resources in the upper
<br />Colorado River basin wet'e authorized by the Colorado 'River Storage
<br />Project Act, approved April 11, 1956 (43 U,S,C, 620), Tbis act
<br />authorized (1) the construction, operation, and maintenance of ini-
<br />tial units of the Colorado River Storage Project consisting of dams,
<br />reservoirs, power plants-, and transmission faCilities at Curecanti,
<br />Colorado; Flaming Gorg$, Utah; Glen Canyon, Arizona; and Navajo,
<br />New Mexico ( dam and re'servoir only) and (2) the construction, opera-
<br />tion, and maintenance ofe11 additional reclamation projects (including
<br />rela~e<,l p,!wer-geJ?-erating and trll.nsm!ssion facilities), referred to as
<br />partlClpatmg proJects, The act provIded also that, m carrymg out
<br />further investigations of'projects in the upper Colorado River basin,
<br />priority should be given to completion of planning reports on 25 addi-
<br />tionalparticipating projects. The purposes of the authorized projects
<br />were defined as river reg1).lation, irrigation, generation of hydroelectric
<br />power, f1oo,d control, expansion of recreational facilities, development
<br />of fish and wildlife habitat, and municipal water supply, '
<br />According to the Bureau's financial and economic analysis, dated
<br />December 1958,i:onstru~tion of the four initial storage units and the
<br />Transmission Division of the Colorado 'River Storage Project, and
<br />the 11 ini'tial participating projects is cstimated to cost more than
<br />1 billion dollars, The proposed program provides for the construction
<br />of hydroelectric facilitic$at three imtial storage units and one par-
<br />ticipating project with a total installed capacity of 1,228,000 kilowatts,
<br />Individually authorized reclamation projects constructed or under
<br />construction by the Bureau of Reclamation' in the upper Colorado
<br />River Basin are also inc~udcd in this report.
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<br />50566-60----5
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