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<br />Position Paper <br />Financing Colorado Water <br />Projects <br />Page,. .3 <br /> <br />Water Rights Surcharge - The theory with this plan would be to tax water rights, <br />both absolute and conditional. It would be somewhat <br />similar to a mineral severance tax, in that the bene- <br />ficiaries would be charged to use the state's water, <br /> <br />Direct Appropriations - A water project financing line item in the yearly <br />state budget could be established to assure that mon- <br />ies are appropriated fro~ state income tax revenues, <br />Another similar option would be to target surplus <br />General Fund revenues for water projects. <br /> <br />Oil Shale Trust Fund - This would be a minor opportunity for revenues unless <br />commercial production of oil shale begins, and then <br />most of the funds would be targeted for the oil shale <br />area. There is some potential to fund water projects <br />in the oil shale development area. . <br /> <br />CWCB Trust Fund - There is ~o real potential beyond present uses. <br /> <br />In Governor Lamm's state of the' state speech for 1982, he stressed the importance <br />of development of water projects, as have many iegis1ators of both political par- <br />ties. We suggest that the 1983 Legislature consider targeting direct appropri- <br />ations, a sales tax, and lottery revenues to water resources development. We <br />don't believe the other methods listed above hold any near-term pro~ise. How- <br />ever, the severance tax may have potential in the future. <br /> <br />There are other sources of revenues which the Authority can pursue independently <br />of the legislature but probably wouldn't generate much revenue until a fund is <br />established. These inciude revenue from sale of power from hydro power plants <br />financed by the Authority, charging some amount extra to beneficiaries of pro- <br />jects above that needed to repay the loan, and leveraging state money to obtain <br />partial Federal financing. The Authority should be flexible to consider any <br />potential source of funding including new opportunities that might arise, such <br />as revenues from federal power projects. <br /> <br />Revenues From Federal Power Projects <br /> <br />Colorado is a participant in the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) which <br />includes several revenue producing hydroelectric power plants. The power <br />revenues are deposited in a fund called the CRSP Basin Fund that is first used <br />to amortize the power producing facilities scheduled for about year 1010. Reve- <br />nues will then be used to provide assistance to irrigation projects that are <br />participants in the CRSP. States in the Upper Colorado River Basin are entitled <br />