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<br />000662 <br /> <br />3/13/00 USBR Staff Draft <br /> <br />U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMAnON <br /> <br />Objectives, Principles, and Po6cies Governing <br />V olUDtary TJ'aIISfen of Project Water at Bureau of Reelamatio. Projeda <br /> <br />.2000 <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />Since the creation of the. Federal reclamation program in 1902, the.Bureau of Rec1swnAtiOll <br />(Reclamation) bas developed substantial water supplies in the 17Westeni states. Today, <br />Reclamation is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier, delivering about 30 miUion acre-feet <br />8nnualIy to hundreds upon hundreds of entities Which have contracted with RP.(1MnAtion in <br />accordance with Federal law to receive the water supplies developed anddeUvered by Federal <br />reclamation projects. <br /> <br />Consonant with the origin~1 :P~-:pose cfthe R-ectt.~UionActoft.902.and~.histmy'or.the . <br />FedemI reclamation program, about 80 to as ~ ofihe water supplied by Reclamadoli"'s. <br />projeCts is devoted to the commercial irription of Orch3ids,.field crops, hay, aod pastUre. The <br />domimmce of agricultural water uses is not ~sing, given that the Federal recllhftAtJOn program <br />was designed 10 provide economic development and stability in an era when the West was still <br />being settled and its arid lands reclail1'Jed <br /> <br />The West is, however, rapidly changing. Growing populations are increasing demands for. <br />municipal and industrial water supplies. In addition, there is growing public interest in outdoor <br />reaeatio~ opportuniti~ instream flows, and preservation and restoration ofwet1ands aDd <br />riparian habitat. These demands, when combined with existing uses, are placlng ever greater <br />pressures on the West's finite water Supplies. B~ oftbese circumstances, as weD as the <br />changj11g economics of inigated agriculture~ Reclamation bas experienced an incteasins nmnbel" of <br />proposals 1iom its water users to sen the ReclBnlatioD project water to which they are <br />contractually entitled to other users and/or to convert their existing irrigadon uses 10 new uses, <br />both on temporary and permanent bases. Reclamation 'eA~ts this trend 10 continue for the <br />foreseeable future. . <br /> <br />Reclamation bas been, and continues to be, supportive of such voluntary transfers and <br />conversions of project -water from existing to new users and/or uses. This paper sets forth <br />Reclamation's objectives with respect to transfers and conversions of project water and the <br />principles and policies which Reclamation win apply when acting upon proposals for such <br />transfers. . <br /> <br />1 <br />