9318

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9318
• Author: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Title: Procedures for Stocking Nonnative Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1996.
• USFW - Doc Type: Denver.
• Copyright Material: NO

4. New Mexico
a. Navajo Indian Irrigation Project
The NIIP was authorized in 1962 to develop the necessary infrastructure
to deliver San Juan River water to 110,630 acres of farmland in the northeastern
part of the Navajo Reservation near Farmington, New Mexico. While Reclamation
provides design and construction management services for the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA), construction funding is sought by the BIA in its budget appropriation.
Reclamation is continuing toward completion of NIIP. The project's
facilities are, and will be, constructed in 11 blocks of approximately 10,000 acres
each. Currently NIIP is about 60 percent complete with seven blocks. Completion
of NIIP may require between 5350-5400 million and 10 to 15 years depending on
the level of annual appropriations received. During 1998, Blocks 1 through 7 were
producing high value crops on approximately 65,000 acres of land.
The main building structure at the Gallegos Pumping Plant was completed
in 1996 with afollow-up contract to install pumps and motors continuing in 1997.
The testing of pumps and motors at Gallegos may take place in the fall of 1998 or
spring of 1999. The Burnham Laterals, Reach 1, Schedule II contract was
completed in 1997, as well as three concrete lining rehabilitation contracts. A
contract was awarded to provide electrical power distribution to Block 8 lands.
The fiscal year 1998 BIA appropriation transferred to Reclamation for
continued project development was 525.5 million. Priority is on the design and
construction of facilities to serve Block 8. The earliest possible completion of Block
8 facilities would be the summer of 2000, assuming annual appropriations of at
least 535 million. However, with continued annual appropriations at the current
level of about 525 million, completion of Block 8 will not occur before 2001 and
completion of Block 11 will be delayed until 2010. Section 7 consultation under the
ESA for Blocks 9 through 1 1, a BIA responsibility, is underway and should be
completed with an opinion issued by late fall or early winter of 1998.
A coordinated work effort between Reclamation and the BIA is currently
underway to prepare a request for a congressionally approved increase in the
appropriation ceiling. This same coordinated work effort needs to be applied to
justifications to support annual appropriations for construction and operation and
maintenance.
Actions needed include: 111 a 510 million increase in the level of sustained
annual funding Ito 535.5 million) to expedite construction, provide for more timely
project completion, and reduce the total project completion cost; (2) a need for
increased annual funding (57.3 million by fiscal year 1999) for project operation,
maintenance, and replacement as additional acreage is added to the farm and to
allow for proper preventive maintenance of existing facilities and replacement of
aging equipment; 131 timely completion of Section 7 environmental consultation to
allow the continued orderly development of Blocks 9 through 1 1; and (4) an
increase in the appropriation ceiling.
Reclamation and the BIA need to work together with the Department of the
Interior, Office of Management and Budget, Congress, and others to substantially
increase annual construction funding levels if NIIP completion is to be cost effective.
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