BOARD01044

• Board Meeting Date: 5/24/1999
• Description: Colorado River Basin Issues - Long-Term Funding Legislation Status
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

circulated in the Senate, but four of the six senators who represent the three states are
expected to sign the letters.

.

Long Term Funding Legislation

Program representatives are confident that Sens. Bennett, Hatch Campbell, Domenici and
Bingaman will co-sponsor the legislation being sponsored by Sen. Allard. Thus far,
Governor Geringer's has been unable to convince Sens. Thomas and Enzi to become
cosponsors.

In the House of Representatives, Rep. Hansen has agreed to sponsor the bill. His seniority
as a member of the House Resources Committee will be helpful. Every member of the
delegations from Colorado (except Rep. Hefley), New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are
expected to cosponsor the bill.

There is no fIrm date on which the legislation will be. introduced.

A briefmg about the Programs and the legislation was given to the Western Water Caucus.
The Family Farm Alliance sponsored the briefing. About 25 people attended briefing,
including legislative staff from other Western states and representatives from organizations
that monitor water resources matters. A copy of a briefing document that was distributed
by the Family Farm Alliance is attached.

CWCB Loan

.

Also attached is the latest version of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding among
the CWCB, the Western Area Power Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation. The
Memorandum was prepared in accordance with Section 3 of the bill that allows the
Secretary of Energy to pay for capital projects using a loan or loans from the CWCB.

The draft was revised as a result of a meeting betweenCWCB staff, a CWCB member,
and representatives from the Colorado River Energy Distributors Association. The
meeting focused on interest rates issues and precedents for loaning funds for
environmental mitigation projects.

A paper that outlines the interest rate issues is attached.

###

.